Final Fantasy VII: Hawaii
by PauL32489
Summary: Fed up with aggravating adventures, the FFVII party goes on vacation in Hawaii. What comical madness lies in wait for them? WARNING: Contains moderate language, violence and mild sexual themes. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**This is just a vacation comedy I decided to make up. I own nothing from "Final Fantasy" or any other "Square-enix" game.**

Tired of so much adventuring, the gang recently decided to go on a week of vacation in Hawaii. At 7th Heaven, Cloud, Barrett and Cid booked the flight, Yuffie, Aeris and Tifa prepared their luggage and Caitsith, Vincent and RedXIII looked for a hotel on the internet.

**In the kitchen**

"Cid, call a cab. The plane leaves in an hour" Cloud said.

Cid cocked his eyebrow.

"Why should get their by plane? Why can't we just take my airship?" Cid asked.

Barrett walked into the kitchen.

"Because every time we use the Highwind, Yuffie loses her lunch. Remember last time when she threw up on my gun arm?" Barrett grumbled.

Cloud and Cid grinned.

"Oh yeah, it was hilarious when you tried to shoot her and barf squirted out" Cid snickered.

Barrett muttered angrily as he stomped out of the bar.

"Not only that, but we're all getting tired of riding in that airship so much" Cloud said "So we decided to find a more comfortable way to travel"

Cid was pissed at Clouds statement but he quickly calmed himself with a cigarette.

"I thought you said you were quitting" Cloud mentioned.

"Yeah, I know"

"And you also said that smoking was bad for you…"

"It is…BUT I $#ING NEED IT!"

Cid wildly inhaled smoke from his cigarette; Cloud nervously took a few steps back.

"Okaaaay…I'm gonna see if the girls are done packing our bags"

**In the upstairs room**

Aeris and Tifa carefully chose their clothes while Yuffie was much hastier.

"Has anyone seen my headband?" Yuffie yelled.

Tifa sighed and shook her head.

"You're wearing it, Yuffie"

"Oh yeah…hell I never even take it off" Yuffie said.

Aeris held up two dresses, a pink one and a red one.

"Which one…hmmm…red or pink?" Aeris turned to Tifa "Which one should I bring?"

"Pink, looks better on you" Tifa replied.

"Nah, red's much better" Yuffie said.

"No pink is"

"Red"

"Pink!"

"Red!"

"PINK!"

"RED!"

Aeris groaned and shouted "Never mind! I'll just bring them both! Jeez!"

Cloud walked into the room.

"Are you girls ready yet?"

"Yeah me and Teef are ready" Aeris said.

Yuffie tried to stuff a bunch of clothes into a suitcase, it barely held.

"Hold on…yeah…I'm ready"

The suitcase suddenly shot open, shooting out clothes that slammed Yuffie into the wall.

"I'm gonna need an extra bag…"

**In the computer room**

Red, Vincent and Caitsith had a hard time finding a hotel, as many were already booked with reservations. The remaining hotels weren't as good.

"Ooh, how bout this one!" Caitsith chimed.

"No, too grimy" Red replied.

"How about that one?" Caitsith asked.

"Hmmmm...not enough room for everyone" Vincent remarked.

"Oh, that one looks good"

"I don't think so, the pools above ground. We want a…"

Caitsith slapped his forehead impatiently.

"Come on, guys a hotel's a hotel!"

Vincent finally found a good one, a large and fairly fancy hotel. Good accommodations and one reservation left.

"Now that's more like it" Vincent said, half-joyful but still impressed.

Red and Caitsith nodded joyfully and set up the account for the reservation.

"There we go. We got ourselves a nice hotel" Caitsith said, already heading for the door.

Vincent and Red followed.

Outside the others were waiting.

"You guys find a nice enough hotel?" Cid asked.

"We sure did. Can't believe how lucky we are" Caitsith replied.

A large, yellow taxi cab pulled up…Reno was driving.

"Hey, wassup!" Reno chuckled.

Everyone was a bit surprised.

"What the hell are you doing? When did you become a cab driver?" Tifa asked.

"This morning, first day on the job" Reno replied.

"Why did you quit?" Cloud asked.

"Well Rude was getting moody and # lately so I decided to take up this part time job to brush it off" Reno said with a sigh.

The gang threw in their bags; them-selves and the cab droveoff. Shortly after leavin, Tifa appeared worried.

"What's wrong, Tifa?" Cloud asked.

"I can't remember if I locked up the bar before we left" Tifa replied.

"So?" Caitsith asked, as if it wasn't a big deal.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "So what if someone breaks in or something?"

"Ahh don't worry" Cid said "Ain't likely for anyone to rob a bar anyway".

**Back at the bar**

A bunch of thugs did indeed break into 7th heaven, grabbing the cash register and many beers.

"Ain't no place better to grab booze from, eh boys?" One of the thugs chuckled.

**Back in the cab**

In the cab, Cloud sat in the front next to the Reno. Barrett, Tifa and Vincent sat in the first row of seats, Yuffie, Red and Caitsith in the 2nd and Aeris and Cid sat in the back.

"How long till we get there?" Yuffie asked, already losing her patience.

"Half an hour, at least" Vincent simply replied.

Yuffie groaned stubbornly. The others didn't seem to mind though. Yuffie decided to entertain herself.

"100 bottles of beer on the wall, 100 bottle of beer, take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of…OW!" Yuffies annoying singing was cut off by a sharp slap on the back of the head.

"Great job Yuffie, now that's songs gonna be stuck in my head all week!" Cid hollered.

"Well you could have asked me to stop, damn!" Yuffie shouted back, rubbing her head.

"Just shut up you little pest!" Cid snarled.

"No, you shut up!" Yuffie shouted back.

"How's about the both of you shut up before I toss you out of the cab!" Barrett howled.

Cid and Yuffie kept their mouths shut, half-afraid.

**15 minutes in the cab**

Reno's driving skills were appalling. As a chopper pilot he was good enough but as a cab driver he very nearly crashed into several cars and 5 pedestrians so far.

"Go back to driver's ed you red headed jackass!" A passing driver hollered.

The others felt unsafe, Cloud responded first.

"Uh…Reno…maybe I should drive" Cloud said nervously.

"Ahh, don't worry buddy. I'm a…" Reno began but he was cut off by a high pitched yelp.

"Oh my god!" Tifa cried, looking back.

"You just ran over a dog you crazy Turk!" Barrett shouted.

"SPARKY! NOOOOO!" The owner bawled.

Reno looked nervous but continued driving.

"Don't worry…uh…maybe taxidermy will cheer him up!"

**The airport (30 minutes later)**

Luckily the traffic wasn't bad, allowing the gang to arrive earlier than expected.

"Well, here we are" Aeris said, stretching her arms out as she stepped out.

"Thank god the traffic wasn't bad or the plane would have been in Hawaii by now" Cloud added.

"Have a nice vacation!" Reno said as he recklessly drove off.

"Remind me to never trust him with a car again" Cloud said to the others.

The gang stepped inside the airport. One by one they stepped through the metal detector. Barrett however had trouble, due to his gun arm.

"I'm sorry sir but you'll have to take that off" The guard said.

"I can't" Barrett replied.

The guard narrowed his eyes, quick tempered and taking his job a little too seriously.

"Don't give me any lip buddy, take that thing off now!"

"I can't do that! It's attached to me!"

"I'm not #$ing with you…TAKE IT OFF!"

Barrett had enough; he punched the guard and barreled through the metal detector…only to have a dozen guards tackle him to the ground in a pile.

**5 minutes later (on the plane)**

Barrett was forced to surgically remove and reattach the gun arm just to get on the plane, he was deeply angered but the comfortable seat he sat in on the plane soothed him. The others enjoyed the features as well; the cabin was clean and somewhat fancy.

"This is great, much better than that rickety old airship" Yuffie giggled "No bumping, and I even have this…uh…rolling down…blind thingy for my window so I don't get airsick"

Cid growled as he lit a cigarette. A steward approached Cid as he noticed the smoke.

"Umm…sir…read the sign" The steward said, pointing to the red light above the no smoking sign.

Cid casually looked at the sign and back at the steward.

"Could you excuse me for a sec?" Cid said as he got up.

Cid walked to the back of the plane, opened the power box and pulled out the cord for the no smoking light. He returned to his seat.

"There, happy now?" Cid remarked.

The steward shrugged and walked off, giving up. Tifa and Cloud sat together, chatting.

"What's wrong Tifa?" Cloud asked, noticing a glum look on Tifas face.

"I wonder if Red will be ok, he looked kinda miserable" Tifa mentioned.

**In the back of the plane**

Red sat uncomfortably in an animal cage labeled "Whatever"

"Man this sucks" Red grumbled to himself.

For some reason, the great Gonzo was in another cage also labeled "Whatever"

"Hey, you're not alone, brother"

**The passenger cabin**

Yuffie curiously pressed a button on the ceiling control panel. A gas mask dropped down next to Vincent, startling him.

"Gah! Yuffie don't do that!" Vincent yelled.

"Sorry…hey what's this one do?" Yuffie pressed another button without reading the "Emergency Ejector Seat" label.

"YUFFIE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO!" Vincent cried out, suddenly finding him-self being propelled out of the plane.

"Opps…." Yuffie squeaked.

Yuffie was dumbfounded but upon seeing the sprouting parachute attached to Vincent seat she sighed with relief.

"At least he had a parachute" Yuffie said.

The pilot addressed the passengers from the cockpit radio.

"Attention passengers, we'll be arriving in Hawaii in approximately 20 minutes, thank you"

The others sighed; glad the plane trip was nearly over.

"Well it's been a long trip but we're just about there" Aeris said gladly.

"Hey wait a minute, where's Vincent?" Caitsith said, noticing the absence of Vincent…and his seat.

Yuffie sweated lightly, instantly replying with a lie.

"Um…uh…he's…in the bathroom…" Yuffie stammered.

Barrett noticed something floating in the air on the side of the plane…Vincent.

"Then why the hell is his ejector seat outside the plane?" Barrett said calmly and obviously.

Everyone stared at Yuffie, angry and annoyed.

"What! It was an accident!" Yuffie chimed.

"Never mind, he'll meet us there" Cloud said.

**In the air, above water**

Vincent was pissed, very pissed.

"The second I find you Yuffie you are beyond dead!" He snarled as he slowly landed in the water, not far from the coast of Hawaii.

Vincent angrily grunted as he began to swim, feeling bad for getting his outfit wet and hoping that his pistol wouldn't rust.

"Well at least I know things can't get any worse"

Vincent briefly saw an arched, triangular fin slice across the water, not 30ft to his right. Vincent's eyes went wide, his heart skipping a beat.

"Uh-oh…"

Before he knew it, Vincent had 3 sharks coming after him, snapping viciously at his legs as they frantically kicked towards the beach…would he make it?

**The End (Of this chapter)**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Airport**

At the airport, the gang decided to search for Vincent before going to the hotel. Tifa, Yuffie, Cid and Cloud volunteered to look for Vincent on the beach while the others stayed at the airport to watch their bags.

"I hope he made it. Parachute or not he's still hitting the water" Aeris said.

The others murmered on the subject, hoping their friend was still alive.

"Hey guys...if you wouldn't mind could you please...LET ME OUT OF THIS CAGE!" RedXIII roared, still cramped in his animal cage.

The beach was deserted, no Vincent, nothing but sand, water and squawking seagulls.

"What if he…drowned?" Tifa whispered frightfully.

"Don't say things like that. We'll find him sooner or later" Cid said as he scanned the beach.

"Cid's right, Vincent's pretty tough, it'll take more than water to take him down" Cloud added.

Yuffie wasn't too exited to find Vincent, being responsible for him going into the water in the first place.

"There he is!" Cloud shouted, pointing to a man dressed in red stumbling out of the water…obviously Vincent.

The gang sighed with relief as they ran up to Vincent but stopped in their tracks as they got close enough to see his clothes ripped up from the sharks, an angry and miserable look on his face. His eyes were primed on Yuffie who was nervously backing away.

"Yuffie…you nearly turned me into shark bait…" Vincent mumbled, slowly upholstering his pistol.

"No, no Vincent! It was an accident!" Yuffie cried, almost running for her life as Vincent aimed his weapon.

"Accident my ass! I could've been killed out there!" Vincent roared as he chased after Yuffie, firing wildly at her frantic legs to make her run faster.

"Help! Make him stop!" Yuffie hollered as she sprinted around the beach, Vincent right behind her.

Cid and Cloud actually laughed while Tifa was a bit shocked as she watched. Eventually Vincent grew tired of the game and left Yuffie alone. The gang returned to the airport to grab their. The gang later arrived at the hotel, feeling more pleased upon taking their first look at the room. It was more than large enough for all of them, 9 bedrooms and 12 miscellaneous rooms. It was neat and well decorated. The perfect room for them.

"Awesome!" Cloud exclaimed.

"I love it already!" Tifa said.

"Let's go find our rooms" Aeris said.

The others looked puzzled at Aeris's statement.

"Ummm…we don't have assigned rooms" Yuffie said.

Aeris grinned smugly and said "I know...I call this one!"

Aeris ran into the nearest room, the best one. Everyone felt annoyed by her trick.

"Awww, no fair Aeris!" Cid groaned.

"Don't be a sour-puss Cid, there's plenty of good beds" Aeris remarked.

Barrett went upstairs to find his own room. Cid and Vincent followed while the others stayed downstairs.

"Wow! This is some sick suite we have" Barrett chuckled. "Yo Cid, Vincent check out these rooms"

Vincent and Cid met up with Barrett in a room connected to 2 others.

"This is my room" Barrett claimed, setting his stuff down.

Vincent and Cid took the neighboring rooms; Vincent took the one with the least windows while Cid took the most.

Yuffie and RedXIII fought over a room.

"I saw it first!" Red howled.

"No way! I did!" Yuffie replied sharply.

Finally, Yuffie settled the argument by lying.

"Hey, Red. You know there is another room that's way better than this one" She said.

Red showed a bit of hope.

"Really, where?" He asked gullibly.

A minute later Red was tied to a tree outside the hotel with a food and water dish.

"No respect! I get no respect!" He howled.

Yuffie snickered as she unpacked her stuff in her room.

Cid and Vincent left their rooms and stumbled into the living room.

"Wow, this place ain't shabby in the least" Cid said.

The room included a pool table, 36inch plasma screen TV, dart board, 3 video game systems and a large stereo system. Delighted, Cid jumped onto the couch, Vincent helped himself to a comfy armchair.

"Now this is my idea of a vacation. All we need now is some room service" Cid said, grabbing a small radio set.

"Room service, how can I help you?" The waiter said over the radio.

"Yeah, I'll take a cup of coffee and uh...a pack of smokes, any kind will do" Cid replied.

"Is that all, sir?"

"Hold on" Cid turned to Vincent "You want anything Vince?"

Vincent shook his head.

"That's all" Cid said.

Tifa and Cloud finished unpacking their stuff. They both met up in the hallway with Barrett.

"I'm getting kinda hungry. Let's grab somethin to eat while we're here" Barrett said, his stomach gurgling slightly.

"Sounds good to me, let's go" Tifa said.

"Yeah, I haven't eaten since this morning" Cloud added.

The three of them left the hotel, towards a restaurant a few blocks away.

Cid had just finished a cigarette when he noticed a plane fly past the hotel. He looked out the window and saw Pearl Harbor, a site he dreamed of visiting.

"Thank you god! Hey guys, I'm going down to the harbor for a while" Cid called out, already heading out the door.

Aeris had nothing else to do and she did enjoy the water so she followed, Yuffie went as well….to find out what the Pearl in the harbors namesake meant, hoping to find pearls.

**The restaurant**

The restaurant was an excellent place to eat but the service was a bit slow.

"What's taking the waiter so long? We've been waiting for 15 minutes" Tifa said.

Barrett was the most unwilling to wait for much longer.

"Hey, hula boy! Get over here and take my order!" Barrett yelled out.

Cloud and Tifa were embarrassed as the people stared at Barrett. The waiter cautiously approached the man, weary of his gun arm.

"Uh…can I help you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, I'll have the roasted sword fish, with the lemon sauce"

"I'll take the stuffed clams" Tifa said.

"Me too" Cloud said.

The waiter wrote down the order but dropped his pen; Barrett became more impatient from hunger.

"Come on, Mr. Luau! Get your ass in gear and get the grub!" Barrett snarled, firing at the ground to hasten the waiters pace.

"Ok! Ok! I'm going!" The waiter cried, barreling into the kitchen.

"Barrett, if you don't relax we're gonna end up in the slammer!" Cloud snapped.

"Ah don't worry bout that, spiky. They won't catch us that easily" Barrett chortled. "Not while I'm around"

Tifa changed the subject on purpose.

"I wonder what the other's are up to?"

**USS Arizona Memorial**

Cid, Yuffie and Aeris went to the memorial to take some snapshots of the sunken battleship. The female guide happily enlightened them on the Arizona's history.

"For 65 years the Arizona has settled here after being sunk during the Pearl Harbor air raid" The guide said through a microphone.

"Booooring!" Yuffie yawned "Let's find something more interesting"

Aeris and Cid glared at the young Ninja.

"Have some respect, a lot of sailors died on that ship!" Aeris snapped.

Yuffie backed down, but still wasn't fascinated by the site.

"There is still oil leaking from the wreckage so please no smoking" The guide said.

Unfortunately, Cid had already finished a cigarette as he hung over the edge of the memorial. He prepared to fling it away.

"No what now?" Cid asked, not exactly picking up on what the guide said.

"CID! NOOO!" Aeris and Yuffie cried out.

It was too late, the instant the cigarette touched the oil soaked water…_KA-BOOM!_

**The restaurant**

The sheer force of the explosion shook the restaurant Cloud, Tifa and Barrett were at not far from the harbor. Dumb-struck the three of them turned their heads to gaze at the enormous fire cloud erupting from the memorial.

"What the hell was that?" Barrett said slowly.

**The memorial…or what's left of it**

"Oh….no smoking…that's what she said" Cid coughed, covered in black ash as he got up from the floating wreckage of the memorial.

"No #$ fly-boy!" Yuffie hissed.

"Why don't we get back to the hotel before…" Aeris began, cut off by a man on a loudspeaker.

The demolished site was now surrounded by several battleships, their guns primed on the three heroes.

"You there! This is the USS Navy, put your hands behind your head and don't try anything funny!" The admiral called out.

"Too late" Yuffie said dully.

**The hotel**

Cid, Yuffie and Aeris were lucky, being mistaken for terrorists at first but were released after an explanation of the accident.

"Well, at least they didn't throw us in jail" Cid sighed, yet again lighting another cigarette.

"No, but they did charge us with a $34 million fine for destroying a historical memorial, thanks to your careless chain smoking" Yuffie growled.

Cid's eyes went wide, his cigarette dangled and dropped from his lips.

"34 MILLION DOLLARS!" He howled, barely believing Yuffie.

"Yup" Yuffie said frankly. "And since you're technically responsible for the whole thing, you should be the one to pony up that cash".

Aeris was shocked too, well aware that even the entire party combined couldn't even come close to affording the fine. Cid slumped onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to come up with a plan.

"Ok, ok, lemme think for a sec" Cid stammered.

Aeris and Yuffie crossed their arms, as if blameful towards the pilot as he lay on his bed.

Aeris tapped her foot. "Well?" She said, waiting for Cid's response.

"Hold on, flower girl, I'm trying to…uh...ummmm….awww forget it, we're screwed!" Cid bellowed hopelessly, unable to come up with something.

Yuffie shook her head and left. Aeris stayed though, she sat beside Cid.

"Don't worry Cid, maybe something will turn up" She said soothingly.

"Like what?" He asked dully.

Aeris looked around and grabbed a newspaper, flipping through the pages.

"Well...we could find a way to get the money...in the paper" Aeris said.

Cid rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, like we're gonna find a way to make $34 million in the paper and..." Cid immediately stopped at the first glance of an ad in the paper.

Aeris and Cid stared in surprise at a Plane Race ad, a reward of $34 million on the headline and still recruiting pilots.

"Oh...my...god" Cid slowly said.

"It's a miracle" Aeris whispered with glee.

Cid stood up and said "Thank you god! C'mon Aeris! We gotta get our asses down to the airfield!"

**End of Chapter**


	3. Chapter 3

**The airport (night time)**

In the back row of seats on an arriving plane, a sole passenger kept eerily silent, barely making a sound. A waitress approached the man.

"Would you like anything else mr...um...sephos? Sephirot?"

Slightly annoyed...Sephiroth corrected her.

"It's Sephiroth maam" He said "I'm fine, thank you"

After saving up enough money, reserving a spot in Hawaii and booking a good flight, Sephiroth had arrived in Hawaii...and he knew Cloud and the others were there...

"Attention passengers, we will be landing momentarily. Thank you for flying FDFS (Fantasy Dimension Flight Service) and have a nice day" The steward said over the intercom.

Sephiroth smiled, almost in a chilling way. "Finally, I'm here" he said as he stepped off the plane and into the airport terminal to collect his belongings.

Sephiroth grabbed his bags and his sword and walked a short distance to the hotel he planned to stay at…the same one Cloud and the others were at.

"I'm coming...Cloud" Sephiroth said under his breath as he crept towards thefront door.

**The hotel**

"I'll bet 3" Barrett said, tossing the chips in.

"Raise you 2" Cloud replied, adding more.

That night, a storm had rolled in, keeping the others inside...except for Cid. Cloud, Barrett and Caitsith played Texas-holdem. Tifa and Aeris were watching a scary movie on the couch; Cid was practicing his flying skills for the flight competition. Yuffie was sleeping quietly upstairs and Vincent and RedXIII chatting in the kitchen.

"Ok, final card" Barrett said, turning over the last card "Cloud, what are you doing?"

"I'll bet 4" Cloud replied, tossing a few more chips in.

"Raise you 4" Caitsith said.

Barrett looked at his unlucky cards and growled lightly, dropping his cards.

"Damn, I fold"

Cloud grinned; feeling lucky as he proudly turned his cards over.

"Beat this, Caitsith. Straight!"

Caitsith half-smiled and casually turned his cards over, Clouds jaw dropped.

"Full-house, Cloud"

Cloud and Barrett were annoyed but still impressed, Caitsith was winning quite well, Cloud was about even but Barrett was fairly losing.

Meanwhile, Aeris and Tifa were watching a horror movie, a scary part was nearing…a young girl was about to answer a knock at the front door…simeltaneously a knock came to the front door of the hotel. The two girls were obviously scared, their eyes wide with fear.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Cloud said curiously.

Barrett got up from his seat and started for the door.

"Oh god….don't open the door!" Aeris whispered her skin paling.

Barrett ignored the girls, shaking his head at their naive nature mixed with horror movies.

"Don't open the door!" Tifa half-shouted.

"Will you relax!" Barrett shouted "Jeez, you gotta stop watching that crap!"

Barrett reached out with his good arm, his fingers wrapping around the doorknob...

"DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!" Both girls shrieked.

…..AHHHHH!" Barrett cried, the moment he opened the door and fell back, landing on the floor with a thud.

A tall, silver haired man with a black leather trench coat stood in the door way...Sephiroth. He stepped inside, approached Barrett and reached out for him...

"Good evening" He said politely. "Sorry, I'm late" he added as he helped Barrett up.

Everyone else smiled back. Tifa and Aeris sighed.

"That's ok, your not that late" Cloud said.

"I missed the first flight when I slept in. Had to book another to get here" Sephiroth explained.

Sephiroth nodded and observed the hotel room.

"This is good, I like it...um...where do I sleep?"

"Ummm...well...you can always sleep on the couch" Cloud said nervously.

Sephiroth was dissapointed.

"Don't tell me you didn't save me a room"

Cloud sighed and nodded slowly.

"Dammit, what's wrong with you. I can't sleep on the couch, it'll ruin my hair" Sephiroth said angrily.

"Why are you so damn obbsessed with your hair?" Caitsith asked.

Sephiroth gasped and replied "How can you say that? My hair is my life!"

Yuffie had just waken up and came downstairs. She saw Sephiroth immediately.

"What took you so long?" The young ninja yawned.

"Hey, Yuff. Well, I missed the original flight so I had to take one in the afternoon"

"Well at least you got here" Tifa remarked.

Barrett walked back to the card table and sat down, Sephiroth followed to watch the game.

"Ok, I'll deal this time" Vincent said.

Cloud turned to Sephiroth.

"We've got an extra space, you wanna join us?"

"Sure, I got some pocket money to play with" Sephiroth said, delighted as he grabbed an extra seat.

"Ok, everybody antee. First card" Vincent said as the next round started.

"Are you any good at cards, Seph?" Barrett asked.

Sephiroth grinned "Trust me, I have more than a lucky hand. By the way, where's Cid"

**Somewhere over Hawaii**

Cid was so desperate to practice, the padlocked gate didn't stop him from entering the airfield in the center of the harbor. Although there were guards on duty, Cid managed to steal a plane from the airfield and take off without notice, as many of the guards were slacking off. Cid was so lucky, even he was impressed with himself. However he couldn't have picked a worse night to fly, what with the heavy rain and lightning trying to blast his ride out of the sky. He didn't care though, he had to pay the fine one way or another.

"Ain't no way this storms gonna stop me!" Cid yelled out from the cockpit.

A few bolts of lighting shot towards him but Cid managed to dodge the first few.

"Nice try, gonna take more than that to..." Cid was cut off by a vibrating crash on the side of the place, the wing suddenly vanished under a jagged blade of lightning.

"Oh shit..." Cid whimpered, now realizing this was a bad idea.

Within seconds he was spinning out of control...towards the hotel.

**The hotel**

Red and Vincent were bragging over some coffee. RedXIII was explaining how embarassing and uncomfortable the animal cage was for him.

"So they took me to another room and pointed to a cage...a friggin cage!" Red said.

Vincent took a sip from his mug "Really? That must've sucked"

"It did suck, believe me. I toldthem, I'm not a wild animal and they don't even listen to me" Red continued.

"Right..."

"So then, one guy takes out a doggy biscuit, he jiggles the damn thing in my face and tosses it into the cage, and I'm like..."

"Oh, no way man" Vincent shook his head, feeling sorry for Red.

Before Red could resume, a loud crash erupted from outside, a crash that shook the hotel...but it wasn't an earthquake and judging by the metalic sounds outside, it was obviously Cid.

Vincent sighed, clearly amused "Cid's back" he said simply.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**The hotel**

"What were you thinking?" Yuffie shouted.

"You could have been killed out there!" Cloud added.

Cid was speechless and embarrassed as he lay on his bed; luckily he wasn't injured despite the crash landing outside the hotel. Nevertheless, he felt like an idiot for flying during a thunder storm without thinking straight, only focused on getting the money to pay the fine. The whole gang surrounded him, glaring at him.

"Look guys that fine ain't gonna pay itself. I had to prepare one way or another" Cid said.

Tifa shook her head. "Cid that's not the point. The competitions still 6 days away and the weather was supposed to be crystal clear 24/7" She explained.

Cid paused for a second. "So?"

Tifa groaned and snapped "So you could've picked a better day to fly. You risked your life on the worst possible time to practice".

Cid was shamefully silent, he couldn't argue with Tifa's logic. He rubbed his bruised fore head a bit. Everyone except Aeris left Cid alone; she decided to talk things out.

"Cid…I know you have to pay that fine…but you have to keep yourself together. You can't just go out like that and…you have to be more open minded"

Cid groaned and replied "I know, I know! But I did went out…because I'm the one who brought up that fine in the first place. It's my fault, so I should take the responsibility of it"

Aeris shrugged her shoulders. "I know, but I'm always here to help you. There's still time to practice but now you need to relax until those scars heal up"

Cid nodded, laying his head back as Aeris left the room to let him rest. Back downstairs the boys had ended their card game, Sephiroth and Caitsith got the most money. Cloud was somewhat lucky; he won a bit more money that he started out with. Barrett lost nearly half of what he played with.

"Damn! How'd you get a royal flush so easily Seph?" Barrett asked, astonished by such lucky card playing.

Sephiroth chuckled as he counted his money "I told you, I'm a superb card player"

Barrett scoffed "Or a superb cheater!"

Sephiroth stared at Barrett "I don't cheat, that's for people with unlucky or below average skills. That doesn't include me"

Barrett grinned a bit, looking smug as an idea formed in his head.

"Hey guys, it's getting late. Why don't we call it a night and go to bed?" Aeris announced.

Everyone agreed, they went to their rooms, dressed into their night clothes and went to bed. They slept well that night…but RedXIII's bed was not as applicable.

**Outside the hotel**

Red was in the dog house that Yuffie bought for him at the local pet shop. Luckily she had the heart to buy him a large one that was much better than the animal cage on the plane. He got a bit wet but eventually fell asleep inside the decent dog house, thinking maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Sephiroth was left with no choice but to sleep on the couch, regrettably it frazzled his hair a bit.

**The hotel (the next morning)**

That morning, Tifa got up to the chirping of birds, it was 9:30 AM, a beautiful morning. She got into her robe and walked downstairs. She heard a sound in the bathroom, curiously attracting her towards it. She opened the door and saw Sephiroth looking at himself in the mirror, a shocked look in his eyes, his hair a bit messy.

"Sephiroth, what's wrong?" Tifa asked gently.

"My hair, Tifa, look at my valuable hair…" Sephiroth whispered sadly.

Tifa sighed and said "Why don't I fix up some breakfast"

Sephiroth turned back to his reflection. "Yeah that's fine. While you're fixing breakfast I'll be fixing my hair".

"Well…do you want anything?"

"Yeah, I'll have a few eggs with coffee. I'll be there in a second"

Tifa left Sephiroth alone and walked into the kitchen. Barrett was already at the table reading the paper and drinking a mug of coffee reading "#1 Dad".

"Morning Tiff, what's Sephiroth blubbering about?" He asked.

"His hair, it's a little scraggly from the couch. I'll make some breakfast". Tifa saw the mugs writing "Did Marlene give you that?" She asked with a smile.

"You got it" Barrett replied.

He resumed reading the paper, the front page read "Careless smoker demolishes USS Arizona Memorial" Tifa frowned as she opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs and bacon. She grabbed a few slices of bread to make toast. As she happily cooked she heard an argument in the hall, she sighed with despair, shaking her head. Yuffie and Vincent entered the kitchen; they were the ones making the noise.

"C'mon, I never meant to hurt you!" Yuffie hollered, trying to defend herself.

"You could have you stupid brat!" Vincent snarled. "If you hadn't kept your fingers away from that button, I wouldn't have been in the water and nearly in a shark's stomach"

Barrett growled and said "Are you two gonna bicker about the ejector seat thing all morning? Cause if you are I might as well have breakfast outside with Red"

Vincent slumped himself down at the table, still eyeing Yuffie.

"Anyway, good morning Tifa, Barrett" Vincent muttered. "I'll have coffee and a few strips of bacon"

"I just want eggs" Yuffie said and with a grin she added "And a beer"

Tifa laughed "Nice try, Yuffie"

"What? I'm not that young!" The young ninja chimed.

"Are you kidding?" Barrett said "You don't even have your driver's license yet"

Sephiroth stumbled into the room, his hands covering his hair. He fumbled through the drawers, frantically looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Barrett asked.

"The iron, I need the heating iron"

"It's in the living room" Yuffie said.

Sephiroth galloped out of the kitchen, past Aeris and Cloud as they entered, they curiously wondered what his hurry was.

"What's wrong with him?" Cloud asked.

"Bad hair day" Tifa giggled.

Everyone smiled at the joke.

"Let me help Tifa, you don't have to cook for all of us" Aeris said, willing to lend a hand, Tifa was grateful.

Cloud sat down at the table.

"Where's Cid?" Cloud asked.

"He's still sleeping, he should be down in a second" Aeris said.

Cid was snoring in bed, worn out from last night. His alarm went off at 9:35.

"Ehhh…I don't wanna go to school…." Cid mumbled in his sleep.

The alarm kept going; Cid finally woke up, grumpy and quite tired but he forced himself to get up for flying practice. He switched the alarm off and trotted downstairs into the kitchen, Caitsith followed.

"Morning guys, I'll just have some coffee and a quick cig before some flying practice" Cid mumbled as he sat down.

"Since I'm a robot, I technically don't need any breakfast" Caitsith mentioned.

"True, very true" Tifa said.

Cid looked around a bit "Where's Red?"

"He's outside" Yuffie said as she got up "I'll go check on him".

**Outside the hotel**

"This is nice, a good meal outside with no snotty, little ninja to bother me" Red sighed happily as he ate but then felt miserable as Yuffie approached him.

"Hey Red, enjoying your meal?" Yuffie asked playfully.

"Yes I am…till you came along" Red said.

Yuffie pulled out a tiny, silver whistle out of her pocket, Red looked puzzled.

"Well then let's see if this'll make you feel better" Yuffie said, smiling wickedly.

"What is it?" He asked.

Without warning Yuffie blew into the whistle. Red suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ears, a high pitched screech from the whistle that Yuffie was oblivious to.

"Stop it! Ow, my ears! Don't do that!" Red pleaded loudly.

"Dog whistle, got it when I bought your house" Yuffie chortled as she began to walk away.

Enraged, Red angrily started after her… but was yanked backwards by a strong force that stopped him in his tracks…a dog chain attached to his house. Yuffie went back to Red and stood just out of his reach.

"What's wrong? I'm right here, come get me" She teased.

"I…am going to kick…your…ASS!" Red slowly grumbled, ferocious and deadly serious.

**The hotel (later that day)**

"C'mon you slow-pokes!" Barrett called out loudly, already by the door.

"Hold on, Barrett" Cloud shout back as he grabbed his surfboard.

Vincent also had a board, the both of them looked foward to surfing at the beach.

"I hope the waves are good today" Cloud mentioned.

"This is Hawaii, the waves are always good. Hell, surfing was invented here in the first place" Vincent chuckled.

Barrett was holding most of the stuff, including coolers and beach bags.

"Hey guys, how's about helping me out and carrying some of this stuff"

Cloud answered "Sorry, big guy. Me and Vince have to carry our boards, besides your strong enough to manage" He walked out with Vincent.

Barrett muttered angrily under his breath as he struggled to carry the stuff out the door.

"Yuffie, Tifa, we're leaving" Barrett called out.

Yuffie was impatiently waiting, Aerith came downstairs from her room.

"What is it Yuffie?" Aeris asked.

"Me and Tifa are going to the beach but she's taking to long to get her swim suit on" Yuffie said stubbornly.

Yuffie knocked hard on the bathroom door. "Yo, Teef! Hurry up!"

Tifa was awkwardly trying to squeeze her chest into a swimsuit with fair difficulty.

"Hold on, I'm almost ready" She said nervously.

Sephiroth and Caitsith weren't around.

"Where's Seph and Caitsith?" Aeris asked.

"Their at Mauna Loa, it's a volcanoe on another island" Yuffie replied.

Aeris looked surprised and worried, Yuffie laughed a bit.

"Don't worry, it's not active...yet"

**Mt. Mauna Loa**

As Sephiroth took pictures, Caitsith listened to the tour guide as they wandered around the volcanoe.

"In case you didn't know, Mauna Loa is the largest volcano in the world and has been dormant for over 20 years so please do not worry about any eruptions as theire have been no reports of seismic activity" The guide babbled.

Sephiroth took a few good snap-shots of the mountains towering peak, facinated by it's size and majesty.

"This is pretty cool huh, Caitsith..." Caitsith wasn't there "Caitsith?"

Caitsith had wandered away from the group to take a look at the volcanoes top, eager and carlessly venturing higher and higher.

"I gotta check out the top, it's gotta be better than the outside of this volcano" Caitsith pondered as he climbed.

**Back at the hotel**

Finally, Tifa stepped out of the bathroom "All set, let's go. Aeris you wanna come?" She asked.

"Oh no thanks, I gotta help Cid practice"

Yuffie rolled her eyes before leaving the hotel "You ought a let him take care of it himself. He's done this before, he'll be fine"

"Seeya later" Tifa said as she closed the door behind her.

Aeris was alone, with the exception of Cid and RedXIII outside. She heard Cid leave his room and head downstairs with his piloting clothes on.

"Ready Aeris?" Cid asked "I know I am"

Aeris smiled and nodded "More than ever, let's get to the airfield"

The two of them left the hotel for a day of flight practice at the Ford Island airfield.


	5. Chapter 5

**The beach**

"Yuffie, don't go out too far, the waves are pretty rough today" Tifa called out as she rested on her beach chair.

Yuffie growled with annoyance. "Don't worry about me; stop mothering me for Pete's sake!" She loudly replied as she dashed into the water with her boogie board.

Yuffie joined Vincent in the water; both of them began to ride the waves.

"This rules, I haven't surfed like this in years" Vincent shouted happily.

"And I haven't boogie boarded like this in…well…ever" Yuffie said. "By the way Vince, were there really sharks out where you landed from the plane?" she playfully asked.

Vincent felt annoyed at first but then grinned smugly; he wanted to play a joke on Cloud.

"Yeah, there are sharks out here too"

Yuffies joyful smile vanished into a nervous frown.

"You're…joking right?"

Vincent pointed behind Yuffie, faking a hysterical act.

"There's one right behind you!" He cried.

Yuffie yelped and looked behind her and saw nothing but water.

"Sucker!" Vincent hollered with a laugh, he pushed Yuffie off her board while her back was still turned.

Yuffie cried out as she was swallowed by the waves, Vincent cackled with mischief as he rode the rest of the wave back onto the shore, he finally got revenge on Yuffie for the ejector seat accident. Yuffie was thrown out of the waves and skidded ashore on her face, her board landed next to her.

"I'll get you for that Vincent, you gothic creep!" Yuffie snarled as he slowly got up, she was angry.

Barrett wasn't too fond of swimming, besides the fact that his gun arm would be damaged he hadn't swam in a while so he kept himself busy with metal detecting. Tifa noticed him scanning the sands for stuff.

"Hey Barrett, found anything yet?" She called out.

"Nope not yet, Teef" He replied.

Cloud had finished surfing and approached Barrett, considering the metal detecting habit foolish.

"Come on, Barrett there ain't nothing down there but coins and bottle caps. Nothing really valuable is out here"

Barrett took no notice and instantly responded to a beep on the detectors sensors by grabbing a shovel and commencing a fast dig around the site.

"Bingo, I got something!" Barrett hollered.

Suddenly Clouds jaw dropped, his eyes popped open as Barrett heaved out a treasure chest full of golden coins, silver bracelets and necklaces and rubies of all shapes, sizes and colors.

"That'll catch me a pretty penny, eh Cloud" Barrett chuckled.

Tifa giggled a bit, amused by the look on Clouds face.

"Shut up, Tifa" Cloud said sharply.

**Mt. Mauna Loa, mouth**

"Caitsith, it's dangerous up here, come on let's go back down" Sephiroth said.

Caitsith was too fascinated with the mouth of the volcano, its vast size and depth was quite intimidating.

"Hold on, lemme get just a few more…Whoa!" Caitsith yelped, suddenly feeling the ground shake.

Sephiroth felt it as well, both of them were startled.

"What the hell was that?" Sephiroth said.

Another vibration shook the mountain, and another, each one growing heavier, loose chunks of rock began to fall into the mouth of the volcano, streams of smoke started to billow out.

"Ummm…how can we tell if this thing is gonna erupt?" Caitsith nervously asked, taking a few steps away from the lip of the volcano.

Sephiroth took out a tour pamphlet about the volcano and read a few pages, trying to find an answer for Caitsith…and he found it, much to his surprise.

"Oh god…IT'S GONNA ERUPT!" Sephiroth cried.

He dropped the pamphlet and ran for his very life down the mountain.

Caitsith looked down into the mouth and saw a hot, glowing liquid forming at the bottom, rising as it flowed into the mouth like milk into a cereal bowl.

"Wait for me!" Caitsith yelled as he followed Sephiroth.

**Mauna Loa, base**

"And so Mauna Loa is currently dormant, so there is no reason to worry about any eruptions" The guide said casually to the rest of the tourists.

One of the tourists spotted Sephiroth and Caitsith scrambling down the volcano.

"What's up with them?" The guide wondered.

Sephiroth and Caitsith ran past them, not looking back for a moment.

"Run away, it's erupting!" Caitsith warned as he ran.

The tourists were naïve, they began to worry but the guide kept calm.

"Now don't panic everyone, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding"

The tourists ran, apparently not listening to the tour guide. The guide was outraged.

"Oh come on, what are the chances of this volcano erupting?"

Quite suddenly a river of lava rushed down the mountain and smothered the tour guide, burning him to the bone in seconds.

"Oh, I'd say chances aren't as slim as one can imagine" Sephiroth said, still running.

**Ford Island Airfield**

As she listened to music on her radio, Aeris watched as Cid flew his newly bought plane around the airfield. The air force was selling planes for the competition and was more than happy to give Cid a special discount. Cid was doing quite well, much to Aeris's pleasure, she cheered for him as he did many impressive stunts and tricks in his plane.

"All right, Cid your doing awesome!" Aeris shouted with glee.

Cid landed after 20 minutes of plane stunts, ready for time courses. He climbed out of his plane and approached Aeris.

"Great job, Cid. I think you've gotten better" She mentioned.

Cid smiled with a somewhat arrogant look on his face but Aeris didn't mind.

"Thanks Aeris, I'm ready for some laps around the airfield" He said.

Aeris was about to say something when a special radio broadcast interrupted her favorite song. She was disappointed at first.

"Awww, why did they have to take it off now" She groaned but she listened anyway, as did Cid.

"We interrupt this program to bring a special news report. After years of dormancy, Mt. Mauna Loa the world's largest volcano has suddenly erupted not 5 minutes ago and shockingly, some tourists are still in the area"

Aeris gasped, her hands clapped to her face.

"Aeris, what is it?" Cid asked, unaware that Sephiroth and Caitsith were at the volcano.

**The beach**

"Go away you big ape!" Tifa hissed angrily.

A husky life guard had been ogling Tifa's breasts for too long, harassing her as well.

"C'mon babe, how's about you ditch that spiky haired dork and hang out with a real man" The life guard said.

Cloud was even angrier than Tifa, hearing the life guard's rude remark.

"How's about you take a hike before I kick your perverted ass" Tifa sharply replied.

The life guard's next words were cut off by the special volcanic eruption broadcast.

"Rescue teams are being sent to the eruption at Mauna Loa to search and rescue the tourists still present at the mountain" The radio reporter said over the radio.

Everyone gasped and dropped what they were doing.

"Oh my gosh, Sephiroth and Caitsith are at the volcano right now!" Yuffie cried.

Tifa got out of her chair, Barrett ran to a pay phone to catch a ride to the mountain.

"We have to…." Tifa prepared but a playful slap on her backside cut her off, the life guard snickered lecherously.

In the blink of an eye the life guard was thrown across the beach and on top of a sand castle recently finished by a young boy.

"Hey, you ruined my castle!" The child yelled as he began to beat the life guard with his digging shovel.

**Mt. Mauna Loa, base**

After unsuccessfully trying to outrun the lava, Sephiroth, Caitsith and the other tourists were stranded on rock completely surrounded by boiling, red liquid that slowly began to rise, engulfing the rock from the bottom.

"This is bad, really bad!" Caitsith whimpered as he watched in horror at the rising lava.

Was it the end? Would Caitsith and Sephiroth die a flaming red death? Would Cloud and the others reach them in time?

End of Chapter


	6. Chapter 6

**Mauna Loa, base**

"Help! Somebody help!" Caitsith cried over and over, his voice full of hysteria.

"Caitsith, we're over 100 miles from the nearest island! No ones gonna hear you! Give it a break!" Sephiroth yelled, fed up with the cyborgs screaming.

The other tourists were loudly panicking as the lava continued to rise, within minutes they would be swallowed and burnt to a crispy pile of charred skeletons.

"We're gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Caitsith howled.

Sephiroth couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Caitsith and firmly slapped him across the face a few times.

"Snap out of it man! Snap out of it!"

Caitsith recovered, thankful for Sephiroths painful yet helpful action.

"Thanks I needed that...but we're still gonna die"

Sephiroth sighed, feeling more acceptable by the inevitable. In fact he wasn't afraid of death, it wasn't the first time he faced a life threatening situation.

"Well, at least we had fun for a while" Sephiroth said, nearly casually.

"And we'll be taking a lot of innocents with us" Caitsith added.

The tourists glared at Caitsith.

"What? Do we have to perish alone?"

* * *

**30 miles off the coast of Mauna Loa**

After hearing the news, Aeris and Cid were horrified. They hopped into a helicopter and were on their way to the volcano, they could see the smoking mountain already, the lava glowing as it smothered the island.

"Hurry Cid, fly faster!" Aeris cried.

"Relax babe, we'll be there in a minute" Cid replied, trying to sooth the worried flower girl "Besides this is as fast as this chopper can go"

Aeris groaned "You could've picked a better ride"

"All the other choppers were taken, the early bird gets the worm...or in this case the fastest aircraft" Cid said "Now shut up and let me fly!"

"Fine, but that guy at the airfield were pretty mad when you stole his chopper"

* * *

**The Airfield  
**

"Describe the perpetrators to me" The officer said upon arrival, taking out his sketch book.

An angry pilot wasn't too pleased with Cid and Aeris taking his chopper.

"One of them was an ugly bastard with blonde hair. The other was a harlot in a pink dress"

"Anything else?"

"Well, they may have been lovers or at least working together"

* * *

**60 miles off the coast of Mauna Loa**

Tifa, Barrett, Cloud, Vincent and Yuffie had to cruise on a speed boat to reach the island. Barrett drove while Cloud navigated.

"This boat might not make it, we're not making enough speed" Barrett called out.

Cloud didn't give up hope "Just keep going, I can almost see the mountain from here"

Tifa, Yuffie and Vincent were in the back of the boat. They had nothing to do but worry about Sephiroth and Caitsith.

"I hope it's not too late" Tifa said.

Yuffie was clutching her stomach, her skin paling.

"Not now Yuffie, hold it in" Vincent said.

Yuffie clutched her face, her cheeks turning green as she retched over the side of the ship.

"Well at least my gun arm isn't getting dirty this time" Barrett mumbled.

Yuffie finished vomiting and groaned "Remind me to grab a few barf bags the next time we go boating"

* * *

**Mauna Loa, base**

It was nearly over, less than a minute remained of the lives of Sephiroth, Caitsith and the tourists. The lava had swallowed most of the rock, there was no where else to go, they were trapped.

"This is it...this is the end" Sephiroth whispered dully.

"Sephiroth! Caitsith!"

"I knew it, every time one nears death he or she hears the voices of friends" Sephiroth sighed. "I'll never forget them"

"Up here you jackass!" Cid hollered.

Sephiroth frowned "Except for you Cid you redneck, god that voice is so...ouch!" Sephiroth got clunked on the head by a fire extinguisher thrown from the chopper.

Everyone turned around and saw Aeris with a megaphone as she watched through the side of Cids helicopter. Everyone cheered and waved to the chopper as it hovered over them.

"Aeris drop the ladders!" Cid ordered.

Aeris released 2 rope ladders for the group to climb to safety.

A tourist grabbed the ladder but Sephiroth pushed him away. "Oh no you don't!" He snarled as he began to climb.

One by one the tourists clambered up the ladder until only Caitsith was left, the lava was closing in, mere seconds lasted.

"C'mon Caitsith, hurry!" Aeris cried.

Cid briefly noticed a group of flying rocks plummeting down the volcano; chunks of burning earth were raining down like meteors, threatening to bring the chopper down.

Sephiroth was too eager to leave, also witnessing the falling rocks. "We have to get out of here now!"

Finally, Caitsith climbed the ladder the very instant before the lava had completely covered the rock.

"Cid, get us out of here!" Aeris screamed.

Cid clawed at the controls, desperately guiding the chopper away from the mountain and back to the airfield but was too late to notice a flying fire rock hurdle towards them from behind.

"Look out!" Aeris screamed.

The rock crashed into the back of the chopper, setting fire to the tail.

"Some one put it out! The tails gonna burn off!" Cid shouted.

Aeris blushed and pointed to the empty fire extinguisher socket in the cabin. Cid glumly stared at Aeris for using the extinguisher to catch Sephiroths attention.

"Anyone have any water?" Sephiroth asked.

Sephiroth saw an elderly tourist with a bottle of water in her hand and a pill in the other. Without asking Sephiroth grabbed the bottle and climbed out of the chopper.

"No! I can't swallow it without water...uh..." The elderly tourist chimed and passed out.

Clinging on tightly, Sephiroth managed not to spill the water as he clambered towards the burning tail. He poured the liquid over the fire, putting out and saving the chopper as well as the lives of many people.

"Phew...am I glad that's over" Sephiroth said as he returned to the cabin.

The old woman was dead, without her heart pill she succumbed to stroke. Sephiroth shrugged and threw the corpse out of the chopper.

"Well that's the end of that hag" Sephiroth said.

Caitsith was annoyed; he heard what Sephiroth said earlier.

"You tried to get Cid to fly off without me. How can you be so selfish?"

Sephiroth glared at Caitsith.

"Did you see those rocks; they could've ripped this chopper to shreds if we stayed for too long. One life isn't worth many others!" Sephiroth loudly replied. "Besides I just saved all of your asses like 2 seconds ago!"

"Yeah, but it cost the ass of one old lady. You took that water from her like it was no big deal, how else could she swallow a pill that size!"

Sephiroth didn't listen to Caitsith; he was too busy wondering what a boat was doing so close to the eruption...it was the same boat the rest of the group had taken. He caught sight of it outside the choppers cockpit, he recognized the passengers.

"Holy shit, the others are down there!" Cid yelled.

"Yo guys, I think Cid got to them first" Barrett said, recognizing the pilot above the boat.

Everyone cheered happily for the safety of their friends.

"Atta boy, Cid" Vincent said.

"Way to go, fly boy" Yuffie cried happily but suddenly then turned green and vomited over the side again.

The celebration ended abruptly when a loud crash struck the boat, shaking it violently. Luckily nobody fell overboard but the boat seemed to be...sinking.

Tifa leaned over the side of the boat and saw a gaping, ragged hole in the hull, slightly burnt with a stream of smoke leading to it and originating from the mountain...a flaming rock had glided far enough to reach the boat and scored a direct hit.

"Cid, they've been hit. We have to get them out of there" Aeris said.

Sephiroth slapped his forehead with frustrated impatience. "God, how many lives do we have to save?" He moaned.

"Shut up, Seph!" Caitsith grumbled.

The boat had completely sank by the time the chopper was above the 5 floating passengers.

"Wait a minute, there's not enough room in here" One of the surviving tourists said.

"He's right, we're just gonna have to leave them for the sharks" Another said, as if here were completely unconcerned about the others.

The group quickly became mad and appalled that the tourist would say such a thing, even Sephiroth was surprised.

"What? The tourist said, shrugging his hands "It's just common sense. Ask Mr. trench coat here"

Sephiroth was outraged, he approached the tourist.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Umm...Albert" The tourist nervously replied.

"Let me tell you something, Albert. When a stranger is in danger, I don't care much about him or her. But when a friend is in danger, I do whatever I can to help and those people down there are the best damn friends I've ever known!" Sephiroth babbled, his tone growing louder and angrier as he spoke.

"Hey, Cid!" Cloud called out from below. "Are you gonna rescue us or leave us here as a shark buffet?"

"Hold on, Cloud I'm almost done with this guy!" Sephiroth called down and turned back to Albert. "That's why we can't leave them, friends never get left behind"

Cid and Aeris smiled, feeling grateful to Sephiroths voice of reason. Caitsith crossed his arms in a respectful way, having a change of heart for Sephiroth.

"But...there's no room...we can't fit anymore people" Albert said.

"Yeah, we'd have to lighten the load for more to come in" Another tourist added.

Sephiroth smiled in a sinister way "I know".

Albert swallowed heavily and a second later he was screaming as Sephiroth heaved him out of the chopper, the rest of the tourists followed until there was enough room for the others.

"Hey, what about my camera!" Albert bellowed.

Sephiroth grabbed the camera and tossed it down, hitting Albert in the face with a painful whack that broke his nose and the camera as well.

"Lower the ladders and let's get the hell out of here!" Cid said.

In no time at all, the rest of the group was safe inside the chopper. Cid flew off while the others dried off in the cabin.

"Well, looks like Albert won't getting those pictures developed" Caitsith said as he peered out the window.

The abandoned tourists were kicking and screaming in the water as a dozen dark blue fins sliced across the water, closing in on their next meal. Caitsith looked away, unable to watch the frightful scene.

"Well, this was a crazy day, a volcanic eruption and a bizarre rescue by helicopter" Yuffie said with smirk.

The others agreed.

"Hey uh...Sephiroth, about that little speech back there. You did say friends don't get left behind, right?" Caitsith asked.

"Yes of course"

"Well how come you wanted to leave me behind?"

Sephiroth frowned "Did I mention when others are at risk, one must sometimes be left behind?"

"No..."

"Well that's why! Besides I don't like you anyway"

Caitsith felt annoyed all over again, the others didn't argue, they too tired to bicker with Sephiroth.

"I wonder what Red's up to." Vincent mentioned, remembering RedXIII didn't want to leave the hotel.

**The Hotel**

Red had left his doghouse after managing to chew the dog chain in half, releasing himself. He was inside the hotel, relaxing on the couch and watching television.

"Ahhhh...this is the life" Red sighed gleefully.

Not only was Red enjoying himself but also pondered on his revenge for the trouble Yuffie had put him through. He had a good scheme coming up, one that he intended to use.

Red switched off the TV and hopped off the couch. "I'd better go over the blueprints again" He said.

Red grabbed a sheet of his plan for revenge. He ogled the blueprint and grinned, putting the plans away.

"It'll work, I know it" He assured himself.

A knock came at the door, making Red jump but when he noticed Yuffie outside with the others he instantly felt better. He trotted over to the door and opened it.

"How was it? The airfield? The beach? The perilous yet exiting experience with that volcanic eruption" Red asked.

Everyone stepped inside.

"You knew we were there?" Cid said.

Red nodded and replied "Yep, a news chopper caught it on tape. It's in the papers too; they printed them as fast as they could"

Red held up a newspaper, the headlines read: Mauna Loa erupts. The other texts read: Unidentified pilot rescues ship wrecked civilians. Abandoned tourists devoured by sharks.

Sephiroth frowned at the eaten tourists section and sneaked away to his bedroom.

"Hey Vincent, can I talk to you for a second?" Red requested.

"Sure, what is it?"

Red took Vincent into the kitchen to discuss his plan for revenge.

"I want to get back at Yuffie for messing with me" Red explained, half-under his breath.

"Really, how convenient?" Vincent said.

"I know she caused you some problems too, wanna help me get some payback on the little brat?"

Vincent smiled and said "Yeah, I did get a little payback on the beach but it didn't quite satisfy me. I'll help you"

Yuffie noticed both of them talking in the kitchen and walked in.

"What are you 2 talking about?" She asked.

"Oh um...we're just um...going over the luau we're having tomorrow" Vincent nervously replied.

"Luau? Cool, I'd better buy a hula skirt tomorrow" Yuffie said cheerfully and ran upstairs.

Fortunately for the both of them, Yuffie was young and gullible; otherwise she would have suspected something.

"Sucker, she's in for it now" Vincent snickered.

Vincent and Red waited until night fall. When Yuffie was asleep in her bedroom, Red and Vincent quietly snuck in without waking her.

"This is gonna be the best payback ever" Vincent whispered, clearly exited.

Red stood on one side of the bed, Vincent took the other. Vincent took out a screw driver and silently began to loosen the nuts and bolts on the right side legs of Yuffies bed. Once Vincent was done, Red took out a large glass of anchovies and poured them on the floor right next to the same spot Vincent had sabotaged, the smell made him gag a bit but Yuffie slept on like a rock, keeping her oblivious to the prank.

"Ok, let's go" Red whispered.

The both of them left the room, snickering as they went to bed, hardly able to wait until morning.

**The Hotel, Yuffies bedroom (the next morning)**

Yuffie's wake up was a humiliating one. The prank was a complete success. The minute she got up and rolled to one side of the bed, the loose legs collapsed and Yuffie yelped as she rolled down the slanted mattress. She landed in the anchovies, her night gown was stained, the smell was horrible. Yuffie screamed, at first she didn't know what she landed in that was so mushy and vile in odor. Vincent and Red were in the kitchen, they heard Yuffie upstairs.

"We got her, mission accomplished" Red chuckled.

The two of them high-fived each other on a job well done, they were finally even with Yuffie for her mischief.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Hotel (Morning of the 3rd day)**

Angry and disgusted, Yuffie galloped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Red and Vincent were drinking coffee. They quickly smiled at Yuffie's humiliation as she entered. Sephiroth and Aeris were at the counter, enjoying coffee over a friendly chat.

"You think this is funny? What did I do to deserve this?" Yuffie demanded, stamping her foot.

Vincent sighed and replied "Well let's see. First you launched me out of the plane"

"That was an accident!" Yuffie chimed, trying to sound innocent.

"Than you were a little cruel towards me" Red added.

"No I...uh..."

Yuffie stuttered but she couldn't fight the fact that she was sadistic to Red.

"...are you sure it wasn't Tifa? M...maybe it was Aeris!"

"You leave me out of this!" Aeris said.

"You deserved that wakeup more than anything" Vincent said "Just like you deserved that bag of coal on Christmas"

Yuffie narrowed her face. "Can't you guys ever take a joke, I was just fooling around. And that luau, I should have known it was a cover-up."

"Well, you deserved it anyway for being a stupid little girl" Red said.

Aeris didn't know what to say, yet she hoped matters wouldn't become any worse. Sephiroth took little notice, ignoring most of the argument.

Giving up, Yuffie left the kitchen to clean up. After a quick shower she threw her gown into the garbage after failing to get rid of the smell. She changed into her normal clothes and returned to the kitchen for breakfast. Cloud and Tifa walked in as Yuffie sat down.

"Morning Cloud, Tifa" She muttered.

"Hey, Yuff" Cloud replied. He turned to Tifa "This Luau's gonna be a blast, Tifa"

"I know it will, but we're gonna have to buy some stuff first"

Aeris and Sephiroth smiled, too excited to wonder how random the luau came up. However, Vincent and Red were dumbfounded.

"Well isn't that a coincidence. Vince and Red told me there was a luau to hide their stupid wake-up prank"

"And what was their wake-up their prank?"

"Check the trash can outside, you'll see what I mean"

**Outside the Hotel**

While looking through the trash, a bum had stumbled onto Yuffies night gown, still reeking of anchovies but he didn't care.

"Hmph! Who says cross-dressing ain't right" He scoffed and walked off with the gown.

**Back inside**

Already dressed, Barret entered the kitchen, Cid followed behind as he lit a fresh cigarette.

"Hey Cloud; Cid and I are going to grab some party stuff. We'll be back in a few" He said.

"I'll come with you" Yuffie said, finishing her cereal.

"I call shotgun" Cid hollered.

"Dammit" Yuffie grumbled. "I hate sitting in the back"

The three of them took a car they rented recently and drove down the road to the party shop.

"I got some coupons for the food so you can buy something extra at the party store" Barret said as he drove on.

"Do you think they'll have hula skirts and torches?" Yuffie asked, poking her head between Cid and Barret.

"For all we know they have fire breathing tiki statues" Cid replied with a chuckle.

**Party City (Luau style)**

Like the name said, the shop was especially full of luau needs. Yuffie anxiously picked out an outfit while Cid focused on torches, streamers and other decorations. Barret went to the supermarket next door for food and beverages.

"How do I look?" Yuffie asked, showing off her outfit.

"Like an oriental skank" Cid replied with a laugh.

Yuffie growled and changed back, purchasing 2 other skirts for Tifa and Aeris. The both of them paid for their goods and waited outside for Barret with the groceries.

"I hope he buys more than just pork grinds and scotch" Yuffie said.

"RUN! HE'S GOT A GUN!"

Several people dashed out of the market, Barret followed, slightly flushed.

Barret stepped out of the market and said "I knew I should have bought a mechanical hand...hey!"

Barret saw a cop giving the trio's car a parking ticket.

"I'm sorry sir, you were shopping for too long" The officer calmly said, not yet noticing Barrets gun arm.

"Officer, that's not even our car, it's a rental" Yuffie said.

The officer turned to face them...and immediately pulled out his pistol at the sight of Barrets weapon.

"You there with the...uh...gun for an arm! Drop it now and put your...hand behind your head!"

Barret rolled his eyes and groaned loudly with aggravation.

"Oh for god's sake! I can't drop it, the damn things attached to me!"

"I don't care! DETACH IT NOW!" He howled.

"I can't! Unless you have some power tools, it's not coming off!" Barret shouted, becoming more and more annoyed. "Besides, you've got me wrong, I'm not some deranged lunatic"

"Oh yeah, I bet you stole those groceries, using that gun in the process! Armed robbery, that's what this whole thing is! Why else would people leave the market like that?" The officer shouted accusingly.

"Well...there could have been mad cow disease in the meat" Barret joked, but was still angry.

Now Yuffie and Cid were becoming annoyed.

"Listen pig! We ain't got time for this" Cid said.

"Yeah, we're just shopping for..." Yuffie added but the officer cut her off.

"Shut up! You're both under arrest for assisting him!"

Now all three of them were angry, they could hardly believe how over-reacting the cop was.

"WHAT? Your full of shit, we didn't do jack!" Yuffie cried.

"You're with him aren't you? You're holding his stuff, so you're obviously thieves too" The cop said, his gun trembling in his hands. He was officially freaked out.

Barret couldn't take anymore, his anger turned to rage and without warning he swung his fist, knocking the cop out instantly. Yuffie and Cid gasped, surprised at Barrets brutal action.

"Come on, before his friends arrive" Barret said, entering the car.

"Cid, why are you pick pocketing him?" Yuffie asked.

"Damn, this guy must take bribes on a regular basis" Cid chuckled as he counted the money.

"Edgy and incompetent, that's one bad record" Yuffie muttered.

The three of them drove away, leaving the unconscious and empty handed officer on the sidewalk.

**The Hotel (Backyard)**

Meanwhile, Tifa, Aeris and Caitsith were setting up furniture in the backyard.**  
**

"Tifa, I said 3 chairs for each table" Aeris said.

"But that leaves one chair for the last table, I don't want anyone to sit alone, where's the fun in that" Tifa replied, explaining her organization of the exterior furniture.

"Oh, I see. Good thinking, Tifa"

"Yeah, I hate sitting alone. It makes me feel...isolated...since I am a robot" Caitsith mentioned.

Cloud and Vincent were cleaning out the pool, it was full of dead insects but nothing a net couldn't fix...in a while.

"Flies, cicadas, bees, dragonflies! What's with all these bugs!" Vincent grumbled as he scooped out the dead insects.

"It's summer Vince, bugs always come out at this time of year. Just like birds fly south for the winter and kids go back to school in the fall" Cloud said.

Vincent smiled and said "Yeah, unfortunately for Yuffie"

"Actually, Yuffie dropped out of school. She got expelled as a sophomore for using her shurkin in gym class" Cloud explained.

"Makes sense to me, that's like Yuffie"

Sephiroth and Red set up a gazebo they rented...or at least Sephiroth helped set up for a few minutes.

"Hurry up, Red. That Gazebo isn't gonna put itself together" Sephiroth said from his lawn chair.

"You're sitting there, drinking lemonade while I'm struggling to put this stupid thing together! Did you ever notice that I don't have opposable thumbs?" Red snapped.

"Less bitching, more building pussycat!" Sephiroth rudely replied.

Barret, Yuffie and Cid returned with the food and luau goods. They brought the stuff into the back.

"Hey guys, we're back" Barret said.

"Finally" Cloud said "Lemme see what you bought"

Cloud fumbled through the groceries. He described every item he pulled out as "Crap".

"Oh come on, Cloud! Half of that stuff is what you wanted!" Cid said.

"Ok, fine! It's good enough but seriously...Barret...did you really have to buy 3 bottles of scotch?"

Barret smirked and replied "For me, it was beyond necessary"

Tifa inspected another bag and pulled out the hula outfits Yuffie bought.

"What's this?" Tifa asked.

"There for you and Aeris. I got one too" Yuffie replied cheerfully.

Aeris smiled "Thanks Yuff, I didn't want to wear my dress anyway, it's just not Hawaiian"

There was a toppling crash, followed by Red's yelp. Everyone looked at the wrecked gazebo, just after collapsing on top of Red, burying all but his head in wood.

"Nice building skills, cat boy" Sephiroth chortled, still sitting in his chair.

Enraged, Red launched a fast fireball at Sephiroths chair, instantly turning it to ash. Sephiroth hit the ground, butt first.

"That's it! I'm done with this fucking gazebo!" Red snarled, storming into the hotel.

Everyone stared at Sephiroth, he stared right back as he got up.

"What? I didn't do anything"

"You're an ass Seph, you know that?" Vincent said.

"Yeah, you can save a helicopter from a fiery crash but you can't put a freaking gazebo together?" Cid added.

Sephiroth shrugged and rolled his eyes "Ok, fine! I'll put it together. Damn, you guys are so demanding!"

**10 minutes later...**

Despite his recklessness, Sephiroth did put the gazebo together...with duct tape and super glue, since all the nails were bent from falling apart.

"There, happy? Now let's get this thing started!" Sephiroth said, already grabbing a beer from one of the grocery bags.

"Hold on, Seph" Cloud said, taking the bottle away "Theres some rules we need to follow before we start partying"

"Rules suck" Yuffie said "They just end up being broken anyway"

"Yeah well not these rules. First of all, if anyone get's drunk you can't party anymore"

Everyone started to complain, very displeased with the first rule.

"We all remember the incident at my new years eve party" Cloud added.

Everyone quickly stopped complaining, they remembered very well.

"Man, I don't know what I was thinking that night" Cid said, scratching his head with shame.

"Second, no stripping. We have kids living next door and we don't want their parents calling the cops on us"

The girls were slightly annoyed, feeling insulted.

"Well, Aeris and I shouldn't find trouble with that. Tifa on the other hand" Yuffie giggled.

"Shut up, Yuffie!" Tifa sharply replied.

"And last but not least, we can't keep the party going for too long. At midnight we hit the hay, parties over" Cloud concluded. "Any questions?"

Cid raised his hand "Is there a regulation to smoking?"

"You know we've told you to quit for so long...but no, there is no regulation" Cloud replied.

Yuffie raised her hand and asked "Can I have just one beer?"

Cloud glared at her, so did the others.

"Pleeeaassse!" Yuffie begged, her hands held together.

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

Yuffie stubbornly crossed her arms.

"Fine! Go ahead and ruin my fun!"

Red came back outside, having relaxed about the gazebo incident.

"What did I miss?"

"Not much, we're ready to party!" Caitsith anxiously replied.

**To be continued...  
**


	8. Chapter 8

I'm very sorry this update took so long. I'm lazy and school is keeping me held back a lot. Once more, I own nothing from Final Fantasy. I promise to update faster from now on, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!

**The Backyard (3rd night)**

The luau went quite well for the first few hours. Nobody got into a fight or played any pranks yet. Unfortunately it was getting late and several of the partiers were already drunk, especially Barret.

"Hey Cloud...gimme another beer...I'd get it myself...but my legs are worn out" Barret murmured, his speech heavily slurred.

The big man sat awkwardly in a lawn chair, empty bottles scattered around his seat. Cloud was sitting opposite from Barret.

"C'mon spiky! I need another drink!" Barret demanded.

Cloud shook his head "Sorry Barret, your way too loaded. Maybe you should get some sleep"

Barret chortled and replied "Nah...I'm not that drunk"

Red XIII was resting in his dog house and heard Barrets adament statement.

"Are you kidding?" Red said "You're beyond drunk, you're hammered"

"You should've seen me in high school...one time I drank so much...my liver almost had to be removed" Barret said.

Cloud frowned, feeling a bit sickened. So did Red.

"Damn...how'd you graduate with that kind of problem?" Cloud asked.

"I dunno... forgot most of it but...I got through somehow"

Barret suddenly wretched, vomited over the side of his chair and passed out.

"Finally. Somebody take him inside, he's had enough" Red called out.

"I've got him" Sephiroth grabbed Barrets feet and dragged him into the house. "Man this guy could lose a few pounds"

**Inside the Hotel**

_Thump!_

"Sorry, Barret"

_Thump!_

"Sorry Barret"

_Thump!_

"Sorry Barret"

Sephiroth said continuously as he dragged Barrets unconscious body up the stairs, bumping his head on every step.

"You'll have a few bruises...but a good night's sleep should fix that"

Sephiroth heaved Barret into bed and returned downstairs.

**The Backyard**

"Marco!" Cid murmured.

Yuffie giggled "Polo!"

Cid lunged towards the ninja's voice but she was swift, yet silent. Cid pretty much sucked at the game and was _it_ for a third time.

"You'll never find me" Vincent muttered, very calm as Cid searched about.

"Don't get so cocky, Vince" Cid replied with frustration.

Yuffie grinned and snuck up behind Cid. She splashed the pilot, dousing him and his cigarette.

"That's it!" Cid clambered out of the pool "I've had it with this game!"

"Where are you going?" Vincent asked.

Cid grabbed a towel and replied "First I'm gonna dry off then I'm gonna practice flying for a while"

Cid went inside.

"What a sore loser!" Yuffie said.

**Inside the Hotel**

Inside, Cid met up with Sephiroth.

"Hey, Seph, how's Barret doing?"

"He's more wasted than a lush at 7th heaven but he'll be all right"

A loud thump emitted from upstairs…Barrets room. Seph and Cid stared up at the sound.

"My skull…" Barret mumbled.

"Maybe you should watch him for a while" Cid suggested.

Sephiroth shrugged and replied "I would, but I have more important things to do, like go swimming" and he ran out the back door.

Cid sighed and dried off in the bathroom, changing into his pilot clothes before helping Barret back into bed.

**The Backyard**

Vincent remained in the pool with Yuffie but he watched her carefully, just to make sure she wasn't plotting anything.

"Stop staring at me like that!" Yuffie whined "You're starting to creep me out!"

"I know you're up to something and I'm not falling for it" Vincent said with warning.

"I'm not up to something, stop talking crap you crazy necromancer" Yuffie scoffed.

"I'm not a necromancer. Now leave me alone!"

Yuffie sparked a little idea. She grabbed a few water noodles and tossed one to Vincent.

"Water noodle fight!" She chimed.

Vincent shook his head and leaned back against the pools edge, impassive to Yuffies activity.

"Come on! Let's play!" Yuffie said and tapped Vincent on the head.

Without warning, Vincent quickly grabbed his water noodle and clocked Yuffie on the head. She yelped and backed away.

"Ouch! What the hell is wrong with you!?" She hollered, rubbing her head.

"You said you wanted to play" Vincent said with smirk.

"Yeah well next time I play with you I'll wear a football helmet!"

Aeris and Tifa were dancing in their new hula skirts. Tifa preffered dancing in a sexy way but Aeris danced more casually. Cloud observed them.

"Tifa...don't you think that outfits a little...revealing" He asked.

"So?" Tifa said "It just makes me look better" she smiled.

Caitsith was standing at the pools edge, watching the girls dance.

"I guess you could say that" Caitsith said.

Aeris felt left out and said "Hey, what about me. I look good too, right?"

Cloud rolled his eyes "You both look good, you just dance differently...that's all"

Aeris was about to reply but her cell phone rang. She answered it.

"Hello?"

**The Front Yard**

Cid had his new plane fueled up and ready to go. In the cockpit he contacted Aeris via the radio. However the planes engine was already running, emitting loud mechanical noise.

"Aeris! I'm leaving for practice! You wanna come!" Cid yelled into the radio.

An angry old man approached Cid.

"Hey Blondie! Turn that damn thing off I'm trying to sleep!" The man complained but Cid was oblivious.

Aeris was puzzled; she couldn't hear anything but the planes engine, Cids voice was drowned out.

"Aeris!" Cid shouted again and again "If you can hear me, answer me!"

"Check the front yard, Aeris" Tifa said. She could already hear the engine on the other side of the hotel.

"Hey guys! Check this out!" Caitsith called out. He was standing on one foot at the pools narrow edge.

Sephiroth was already in the pool, too relaxed to notice Caitsiths careless behavior.

"Caitsith be careful!" Red Cried.

"Why...whoa...WHOA!" Caitsith lost his balance and fell into the pool and..._BZZZZAAAAAAT!!!_

Sephiroth babbled rapidly as his body flailed and crackled from Caitsiths coduction of the water with his bodily electricity.

Vincnet grabbed a pool net and scooped Caitsith out of the water. Sephiroth twitched and gasped as he awkwardly climbed out of the pool. His body smoked from the volts of electricity, his hair was frazzled and partially burnt but he didn't notice.

"I...g-g-gotta...d-dry off a-and s-s-see if m-my hair is ok-k-kay..." Sephiroth stuttered and walked into the house.

No one spoke for a few moments until Aeris announced "I'm gonna go help Cid practice for a while"

**The Front Yard**

With an angry grunt Cid took out a metal bat and smashed the engine, shutting it off.

"Finally!" The old man said "Save your Red Baron antics for tommorow!"

Cid stared at the old man "Keep your slippers on grandpa, I'll be outta here in jiffy"

"I don't give a rats ass!" The old man shouted "I don't want that plane keeping me up for another minute!"

"Listen! I'm doing this for a damn good reason so get lost you old bastard!" Cid hollered.

The old man clenched his fists and walked back to his house, grumbling all the way.

Cid snatched the radio "Aeris? Are you there?" He said "Answer me"

From behind, Aeris tapped Cid on the shoulder.

"I'm right here" She said.

"HOLY SHIT!" Cid jumped, the tone of his voice startled Aeris. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He shouted. "Unless you wanna give me a heart attack before I get lung cancer!"

"Oh Cid, don't say stuff like that" Aeris said. "Why did you have the engine on before calling me…and what are you doing with that bat?"

"Well I remembered to ask you but not before I started the plane up. The engines all screwy so I had to give a good whack to shut it off"

Aeris observed the plane and frowned. "This is the plane they lent to you?"

_"NOOOOO!!! MY HAIR!!! MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!!!"  
_

Aeris and Cid jumped and looked up, spotting Sephiroths silhouette through his bedroom window. His movement was slow and full of sorrow over his hair.

**Sephiroths Bedroom**

Sephiroth sobbed a little but managed to calm himself after a few moments.

"Ok...calm down Sephy!" He said slowly to himself in an almost deranged way.

"You can still save your hair, it's not the end of the world..."

**The Front Yard**

"Awww, poor Sephiroth" Aeris said sympathetically "I hope he's be ok, I didn't think he'd be that upset"

Cid didn't seem to care as much "Don't worry about him. Anyway after I trashed the last plane they lost trust in me" Cid said sheepishly.

"But didn't you steal that plane?" Aeris asked.

"Well yeah…but I have a license to do that since I'm a pilot" Cid answered.

He pulled out his wallet and showed Aeris a card labeled "Aircraft Borrow License"

Aeris examined Cids photo on the card and giggled. "You had a mullet back then, it looks good"

Cid frowned and said "Yeah…I was a little more casual back then but eventually I turned to just leaving my hair alone"

He quickly changed the subject "Anyway, since they couldn't arrest me, they just gave me this piece of crap because it's the only plane they can afford to have sent to the junk yard" Cid explained with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

Cid was right; the plane was clunky and was fairly outdated. Although capable of flight, it wasn't built for competition, only practice. Still it was better than nothing.

"Anyway, you wanna come; it gets pretty boring when you alone"

Aeris became curious "How boring?"

"All you have to talk to is yourself and the birds flying alongside you"

Aeris cocked her eyebrow "Birds?"

"Well…generally all they have to say is…_caw_" Cid scratched his head. "Anyway, are you coming?"

"Sure, I'll come" She said.

Aeris hopped into the co-pilot seat and the plane glided into the air, destined for the airfield.

**The Backyard**

"Please"

"No"

"Please!"

"No!

"PULEEEASSSE!!!"

"GODDAMIT NO!!!"

Yuffie scowled and stamped her foot.

"You guys suck!" She screamed "You just don't know when to cu

t me some slack!"

Tifa slapped her forehead and groaned angrily.

"Yuffie! We've told you a million times: You can't drink yet! You have to be 21!" Tifa said slowly, as if to knock some common sense into Yuffie.

Yuffie was too stubborn to listen.

"Well…maybe I'll get a fake ID"

Cloud was sitting next to Tifa and he was also getting frustrated.

"Yuffie, I had a fake ID one time and I ended up in jail for 6 months when the cops caught me" Cloud explained. "If they can get me, what the hell makes you think they can't get you?!"

With a smug, little grin, Yuffie replied "I'm a ninja! They could never catch me. You're just a grunt from the army, of course they caught you"

"Yeah, well at least I'm not too arrogant for my own good" Cloud growled "Your so proud of yourself your practically in your own damn world"

Tifa tried to break up the fight.

"All right guys. That's enough. Let's forget about this whole fake ID thing" She calmly said.

"Oh shut up you dirty tramp!" Yuffie hissed rudely "Mind your own business!"

Tifa stood up and stared Yuffie in the face with a bullish look.

"Yuffie! Don't talk to her that way!" Cloud defended. 

"Yeah! Who are you calling a tramp you obnoxious little twerp!?" Tifa shouted.

"You're probably more promiscuous than Don Corneo!" Yuffie loudly replied.

"Me?" Tifa cried "Look at you in those short shorts and your calling _me_ a tramp!"

"Oh come on! You must have gotten breast implants just to seduce men" Yuffie spat "I almost feel sorry for Cloud!" She added.

Yuffie had gone too far. Without warning Tifa launched herself at the ninja and the two of them engaged in a cat fight.

**The Airfield**

Cid and Aeris had just landed at the airfield; several other pilots were also there, including one hotshot pilot.

"Hey, look over there. I'm gonna go see what's up" Cid said as he jumped from the cockpit, Aeris followed him.

The other pilots were a bit younger than Cid but the hot-shot looked the same age. He was fairly tall and had medium build. With solid blue eyes and dark brown hair, he looked somewhat intimidating. Cid wasn't impressed, he'd seen worse.

"Good evening pilots" Cid humbly said to the others and turned to the hot-shot "Who are you?"

The hot-shot glared at Cid and replied "I am Major Raptor…and my first name is not important"

"Really?" Cid cocked his eyebrow.

"Yes, now who the hell are you and what are you doing in my airfield?!" Raptor snapped.

Cid instantly became annoyed; Aeris sensed trouble and decided to avoid an argument.

"Your airfield!? This place doesn't belong to you!" Cid shouted.

The major casually jerked his head to the airfields billboard which read "Welcome to Ford Island Airfield, currently owned by Major _something _Raptor"

"I guess his first name really is unimportant" Aeris thought.

Raptor chuckled and said "You were saying, blondie?"

"Oooooooohhhhhhhh!" The other pilots said in unison at Raptors insult.

"Watch your mouth wise guy!" Cid snarled "I'm not surprised anyway! With a rank that high, anyone could own this airfield if they wanted"

Raptor paused and examined Cid's face "Wait. Aren't you that guy who…?"

Cid nervously switched his eyes from side to side.

"I knew it! Blonde hair, goggles, whiskers and the worst piloting clothes ever!" Raptor said loudly "I saw your ugly mug in the paper after you demolished the Arizona memorial!"

"Don't talk to him that way!" Aeris chimed "Besides it was an accident"

"Yeah, what's your problem buddy?!" Cid added.

"It's my airfield I'll talk however I want!" Raptor howled "And if you don't like it, get your ass out of here you retarded vandal!"

Cid had enough, he tried to lunge at Raptor but Aeris and the other pilots held him back.

"Let go of me! Lemme hurt him!" Cid shouted "Just a little!"

"No Cid! No!" Aeris begged "It's not worth it! The other pilots said similar things.

Raptor laughed "I like your attitude but that won't get you anywhere"

Aeris glared at Raptor, she barely knew him and disliked him already. Raptor stared back and lecherously winked at the flower girl, disgusting her.

"Come on let's go practice somewhere else!" She said, nearly as angry as Cid.

Cid stopped struggling and turned to leave, Aeris followed him to the plane and they both flew away.

**The Hotel, backyard**

"I swear Tifa!" Yuffie howled "I'll get you for this!" she threatened.

Cloud and Vincent managed to pry the screaming ninja away from Tifa. Luckily it was a brief fight and neither of them were hurt.

"Yuffie stop!" Cloud said "That's enough!"

"That's what you think you brat!" Tifa screamed "I'll have my revenge before you know it!"

A police siren wailed in the front of the hotel. Everyone heard it and paused nervously. Cloud went over to investigate.

**The Front yard**

Out-front, a police officer stepped out from his patrol car and spotted Cloud.

"Just what do you think your doing?" The officer said.

Cloud became slightly alarmed "What do you mean?"

Sephiroth followed Cloud, his damaged hair was wrapped into a towel "What's going on?"

"You've got some violations here. 2 noise violations: a plane taking off and loud music"

"So?" Sephiroth said "Can't a bunch of people have some fun around here?"

The officer glared at Sephiroth.

"It's all fun and games until a 6 year old see's a scantily clad girl parading her chest around!"

"Uh-oh…" Cloud murmured nervously.

"The parents are pissed at you" The cop said "They didn't like the cat fight either, that's another violation: public violence"

"So…that's 3 violations" Sephiroth said.

"That's right" The officer said, paused and added "Oh by the way, any of you guys seen an African-American, large build and a gun for an arm"

"Uh…why?" Cloud said.

"An officer encountered him during a robbery and got knocked out" The officer explained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a suspect description paper.

"He looked like this, according to several witnesses"

Luckily the picture didn't look too much like Barret, in fact it was exaggerated.

"Nope, haven't seen anyone like that" Sephiroth babbled.

The cop suspiciously narrowed his eyes at Sephiroth "Are you sure?"

"Yes" Sephiroth simply said.

The cop threw his hands up and said "Good enough for me"

By now it was obvious the cop wasn't very bright and not necessarily competent.

"But your still gonna have to pay the fines for the violations" The cop reminded.

Sephiroth sighed and pulled out a box of doughnuts. The cop's eyes widened, he licked his lips.

"You didn't see anything" Sephiroth said smugly.

The cop grabbed the box and said "You win, but only because I'm hungry" he returned to his patrol car and drove off.

"Nice move Sephiroth" Cloud said.

"No sweat" Sephiroth replied "Anyway, I think we've had enough excitement for one night. Let's clean up the backyard and get some sleep"

"Good idea" Cloud said with a yawn "I'm kinda worn out myself"

"But I've gotta set up a serious appointment at the hair salon tommorow" Sephiroth added and went inside.

Tifa arrived in the front yard. She approached Cloud and asked "What happened?"

"A cop was a bit angry about our luau but Seph bribed him with some doughnuts" Cloud answered.

Tifa smiled "That's good" She paused for a moment and added "By the way Cloud...thanks for defending me in that argument with Yuffie"

Cloud blushed a bit and replied "Uh...it was nothing. You two argue every one in a while anyway"

"Yeah I know...but you don't think I'm a tramp...do you?"

Cloud was surprised she asked him. "Of course not, I actually kinda like the way you dress" He replied sincerely.

Tifa giggled and softly kissed Clouds cheek.

"Thanks, your sweet"

His blush turned to a deep red.

"Good night, Cloud" She went back inside.

Cleaning up took a while but the group got it done and went to bed, the luau was over but the vacation wasn't even halfway over. What lay in store for the next 4 days? Only time would tell.

**END OF CHAPTER**

NOTE: Major Raptor is not a real officer in any military and he is not the current owner of any airfield in Hawaii. He is my original character.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Hotel, morning of the 4th day**

It was a quiet morning, the group was sound asleep...or at least they were until...

_"Thump! Thump! CRASH!"_ A loud chorus of noise trembled through the hotel, waking everyone up. One by one they stepped out of their rooms and angrily reacted.

"What the hell was that?!" Cloud cried.

"It's 5:00 am!" Tifa added loudly.

"Great! And I was just having a wet dream!" Sephiroth shouted. Everyone was silent.

"What?" Sephiroth said "It's a damn dream, anything can happen!"

Vincent found Barret lying face down at the base of the stairs.

"Looks like he's still groggy from last night" Vincent said as he and Cloud lifted Barret to his feet.

"My head hurts..." Barret mumbled; his eyes bloodshot and voice still grating.

"I told you Barret" Cloud said "You shouldn't have drunk so much last night"

"All right fine!" Barret growled "I got a little carried away with the alcohol, can't a guy enjoy himself?"

"There is a difference between self-enjoyment and consuming lethal amounts of alcohol" Vincent stated.

Nobody answered; most of them went back to bed. Vincent and Cid stayed up though.

"Doesn't matter" Cid said "I was planning to go out anyway"

"I usually get up earlier than this but the luau tired me out" Vincent added.

The two of them went into the kitchen for coffee.

"You think Yuffie is going to get back at Tifa for what happened last night?" Cid asked.

Vincent shook his head "I doubt it, she'll keep the grudge for a while though"

"Yeah, she doesn't know the first thing about revenge anyway"

Cid sat at the table, Vincent sat opposite as they both refreshed themselves with coffee.

"By the way, I have to repair Caitsith from his little...swim last night" Cid mentioned "Could you lend me a hand?"

Vincent nodded.

Both men went into the living room. They found Caitsith with a lampshade on his head and a light bulb in his ear.

"What the hell…" Cid said.

"The lamp was broken so we used him until we could replace it" Vincent answered.

Cid tossed the shade and bulb aside and carried Caitsith into his room. He grabbed a tool box and handed it to Vincent.

"We gotta open his head and fix his brain" Cid said, Vincent cocked his brow.

"Artificial brain" Cid added "Ok, screwdriver"

"Check" Vincent answered, handing the tool over.

A few twists opened Caitsiths head and Cid resumed.

"Wrench"

"Check"

"Spark welder"

"Check"

"Cigarette"

"Huh?"

"Just give it to me!"

"Ok, ok! Check!"

Cid simultaneously smoked and worked.

"All right...that should do it" Cid concluded "Let's see if it works"

Cid activated Caitsith. The mechanical cat twitched and buzzed and stood up.

"Looks ok to me" Vincent said, impressed with Cid's mechanical skills.

Caitsith immediately focused on Vincent.

"Umm...why are you staring at me like that?" Vincent said; quickly alert.

Caitsiths eyes shaded red. "Crush! Kill! Destroy!" he chanted maniacally as he lunged at Vincent and began to choke him.

"Gah!" Vincent cried "Cid shut him off! Shut him off!"

Cid immediately deactivated Caitsith. Vincent yanked the robots hands from his throat.

"Sorry...guess I adjusted his memory bank too much" Cid sheepishly said.

Vincent irascibly left the room. Cid sighed and continued working on the damaged Caitsith.

**Later that morning**

After reading 8:30 from his alarm, Cloud got out of bed and headed downstairs, Tifa met up with him on the way.

"Morning Cloud" She said with a smile.

"Morning Teef" Cloud replied.

They both entered the kitchen; Sephiroth was at the table, his eyes closed. He had a candle with him.

"Morning Sephiroth" Tifa said "What's with the candle?"

"I use it for meditation, you wouldn't understand though" Sephiroth replied and turned his attention to the floor "Say good morning Barret"

Barret was asleep on the floor.

"Lazy oaf..." Sephiroth murmured as he sipped his coffee.

"Why didn't you help him back into bed?" Cloud asked.

"He told me not to" Sephiroth answered "He didn't wanna fall down the stairs again so he chose the floor"

Cloud and Tifa looked at each other and shrugged. Tifa cooked while Cloud tried to wake Barret up.

"Hey Barret, wake up!" Cloud said, poking his head.

Barret snoozed on and murmured "Ehhh...I'm not going to school..."

Tifa giggled. "Barret your 35 years old, you don't have to go to school anymore" She said.

Cloud began poking Barret with a stick. "C'mon Barret, rise and shine!" Cloud said.

No good, the stick didn't wake the big man.

"Damn…he sleeps like a log" Cloud said.

Sephiroth stood up "Lemme do it"

Sephiroth took out a bomb bag, dropped next to Barrets head and slammed his foot onto it.

"No, Seph wait!" Cloud cried...too late..._POP!!!_

Barret instantly awoke and clutched his ear.

"OOOWWWWW!!! MY FUCKING EAR!!!" He howled, rising to a crawling position.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Tifa shouted; Sephiroth ignored her.

Vincent and Cid barged into the room, Vincent had his gun drawn and Cid had a stick of dynamite.

"What happened!? Where's the gunman!" Vincent demanded.

"There is no gunman, I just had to wake Barret up…the hard way" Sephiroth said without shame.

"Why did you bring dynamite?" Cloud said.

"I misplaced my spear so...I figured I'd put it to good use" Cid replied.

Barret groaned from his ear pain, Tifa comforted him.

"You ok Barret?"

"What? Speak up! I can't hear you!"

Cloud glared at Sephiroth and said "Nice going; now he has an ear problem!"

"Well excuuuuse me Cloud! I was just trying to help!"

Yuffie walked into the kitchen holding another stick of dynamite.

"Hey everybody, I just found the most bitchen firecracker!" She chimed happily.

"That's dynamite you idiot" Cid warned.

Yuffie scowled at the pilot.

"I knew that. How stupid do you think I am?"

Yuffie crossed her arms, accidentally placing the wick over Sephiroths candle...igniting it.

"Very stupid!" Sephiroth cried.

"Shut up!" Yuffie shouted...and noticed the lit wick "Uh-oh..."

"Throw it away you stupid brat!" They all cried.

"A rat!" Barret cried, wildly eyeing the floor "Where, I'll get it! He primed his gun.

Without thinking Yuffie hurled the dynamite out the kitchen window. A few seconds later it exploded, spraying dirt into the kitchen and rocking the entire hotel.

"Nice going!" Vincent said angrily.

"Yeah, now Tifa has to clean this whole damn kitchen!" Sephiroth added.

"What?" Tifa said "Why me?"

The back door swung open, Red XIII stormed inside, covered in soot and had a bullish look on his face.

"Who just threw dynamite at my dog house!?" He yelled.

Cid pointed at Yuffie, even though it was really his dynamite.

"You little parasite!" Red snarled.

Yuffie screamed as Red chased her out of the house.

"No! Bad dog! Stop!" Yuffie cried.

"Red wait!" Tifa said.

"Leave her, Tifa" Vincent said "It's for her own good. Kids gotta learn not to fool around with explosives"

From outside Yuffies voice rang out: OUCH!!!

Red returned to the kitchen, casually finding a spot to lie down on the floor as Yuffie came in shortly afterwards.

"That mongrel bit me!" She pointed at Red.

"Where?" Cid asked "You look fine to me"

Yuffie turned around, revealing a patch of cloth missing from her shorts.

"He's vicious...and perverted!" She said furiously "What kind of dog bites you on the ass!"

"A dog who wants to humiliate you" Red replied.

"Seriously, I can't hear very well at all" Barret said with strain.

"I'll take Barret to the doctor later" Tifa said "Does anybody need a ride on the way?"

"Yeah, I need a doctor to examine the bite on by butt" Yuffie said angrily.

"I don't have rabies" Red said "Even if I did you'd be burnt, not bitten"

"Seriously!" Tifa said in an annoyed tone "Does anyone need a ride!?"

"I need to get to the salon" Sephiroth earnestly said.

Tifa nodded and left the kitchen.

"Wait…I remember where I put my spear!" Cid happily mentioned "The closet". He stood up.

"I'll go with you" Vincent said "I left something there too"

**Several hours later**

Barret sat on the couch, an irascible look in his eyes. He dwelt on Sephiroth, how he intended to make him pay for his painful ear problem. His appointment with the ear doctor was only a few minutes away but he had to wait for an uncomfortable amount of time so far.

Tifa approached the door. "Sephiroth, get Barret it's time to go!" She called out.

The two men followed Tifa outside. She walked past the SUV Barret had rented.

"Wait, aren't we taking Barrets car?" Sephiroth asked.

"No way!" She answered. "That car smells like cheap liquor"

Tifa had rented a Pontiac grand prix, 2003.

"The cars here are a lot fancier than ShinRa's models" Sephiroth said as he climbed into the front passenger seat, Barret sat in the back.

"Not to mention safer" Tifa added.

**ShinRa Headquarters**

"Citizens of Midgar, I give you the ShinRa Model-17!" President ShinRa announced through a microphone, facing a crowd. Rufus was standing next to him, unimpressed by his father.

A new model car beneath a tarp was exposed to the anxious crowd.

"Any questions?" President ShinRa said. "Yes you, riding the Chocobo"

"Is this vehicle completely safe Mr. President?" The man asked as he fed his Chocobo bird seed.

President ShinRa scoffed "Are you kidding? It's the safest thing on 4 wheels"

The president lightly patted the vehicle and in the blink of an eye it fell apart like a stack of bricks. The president was dumbfounded and embarrassed; the crowd was silent.

"Nice design you old bastard" Rufus said under his breath, rolling is eyes.

**In the Car (Hawaii)**

"Make a left here, Teef" Sephiroth directed.

"What?" Barret said aloud "Did you say reef?"

"No, Teef!" Sephiroth answered loudly.

"What about Teef?" Barret asked, smiled and added jokingly "You like her?"

"Shut up you dirty fat head!" Sephiroth snarled.

"Wait…fat head… or…" Barret continued with another awkward question; Tifa purposely interrupted to prevent an argument.

"I still can't believe you woke Barret up with a bomb bag" Tifa said "At the most, I would have used a cold bucket of water"

Sephiroth stubbornly ignored Tifa. "Shut up and drive, woman!"

Tifa scowled and tightened her grip on the wheel as she cruised down the road. Nobody spoke for a while until Sephiroth pointed to the salon to the left of the street.

"Right there"

Tifa dropped him off and sped away. "I'm glad he's gone" She sighed and meant it.

"_I wonder what the others are up to"_ Tifa thought.

**The Hotel**

Yuffie was in her bedroom, preparing to go out. Aeris sat on the sofa reading a magazine. Vincent and Cid were no where to be found. The hotel was very quiet, in an almost ominous way.

Aeris put her magazine down. "Hmmm, it's quiet…to quiet" she murmured, and shivered "And why is the AC up so high?"

Yuffie galloped downstairs.

"Hey Yuff, have you seen Cid and Vincent anywhere?" Aeris said.

"Nope" Yuffie quickly replied "I haven't seen them since this morning. Maybe they went out"

Aeris frowned. "Strange, I didn't see them leave, and they didn't mention anything about leaving"

As peculiar as it sounded, Yuffie didn't really care.

"Doesn't matter, they'll turn up. I gotta grab my vest before I go out" Yuffie casually said before walking off.

**The Closet**

"And that's how life was for me as a child" Vincent concluded.

Cid was intimidated "Damn...and I thought my childhood was bad!"

Both of them were still in the closet, which was equivalent in size to a small garage.

"You think the others have noticed our absence yet?" Vincent asked.

Cid shrugged.

The closet door opened and Yuffie stepped inside. She paused and stared at the two men for a moment.

"What are you two doing in here?" She asked listlessly.

"Well…" Vincent said with a sigh "I guess that answers my question"

Cid was overjoyed. "Yuffie!" He cried "I never thought I'd be happy to see you!"

"Neither did I" She replied, almost startled by Cids reaction.

Yuffie reached for the door knob. Cid's smile vanished.

"Yuffie...wait...no!" The pilot cried...too late...the door shut.

There was a pause; Cids jaw dropped, Vincent covered his face with one hand in hopeless frustration.

Yuffies vest hung from the door. She grabbed it and put it on.

Cid clenched his fists, his jaw clenched "You…idiot!" he fumed.

"What?" Yuffie said "I can't wear my vest?"

"The door won't open from the inside" Vincent said humorlessly "We've been stuck in here for 3 hours"

Yuffie paused and uselessly rattled the jammed door knob.

"Oh no..." She said in fear.

She desperately pressed both feet against the door and pulled the knob simultaneously. Cid and Vincent shook their heads at the ninja's futile attempt.

"No!" She cried "I can't stay in here!" She slammed her fists on the door, wildly screaming for help.

Yuffie was claustrophobic: Fear of being trapped in confined spaces.

"Yuffie, calm down!" Cid demanded "No one will hear you anyway; the door is 4 inches thick, solid oak!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" She shrilled "DON'T TELL ME TO..." Yuffie instantly fell limp.

Cid nodded "Good job, Vince" he congratulated.

"Just like in the movies" Vincent said with a half-smile.

"But now we're stuck in here with her and she'll eventually wake up" Cid stated.

"True, but hopefully the others will find us in here before little miss ninja recovers" Vincent casually replied.

Cid checked his watch. "It's almost 5:00 PM" he said "And I just remembered I'm bored as hell!"

Vincent reached at a shelf. "I think there's a box of checkers up there"

Unfortunately, Barret had brought his bowling ball. The object rolled off the shelf and landed on Vincent's head, instantly knocking him out.

"Vince!" Cid shouted, running over to the unconscious man "Are you ok?!"

Vincent didn't reply, Cid sighed with frustration.

"Oh well..." Cid said to himself "I'm more tired than bored anyway" He flicked the light switch and lay down in the dark.

"Their bound to find us anyway" He muttered before dozing off.

**The Doctors Office**

Tifa and Barret sat in the waiting room. Both of them were becoming impatient.

"Damn it!" Barret said "My ears aren't gonna fix themselves!"

A woman and her child were sitting next to Barret. The boy got up and started walking around"

"Don't wander off honey; you gotta take your eye test in a moment" The mother said.

"What?" Barret said "You gotta make your breasts extent? They look fine to me" He shrugged.

The mother gasped with shock and grabbed a can of mace from her purse.

"Eat pepper spray you sicko!" She furiously cried, nailing Barret right in the eyes.

Barret howled and fell to the floor, shielding his face.

"It burns!" He groaned "It burns with the power of pepper!"

Tifa looked on in pity at Barret. She would have dealt with the over-reactive mother but with her son present, a fist fight wouldn't be a good idea. She helped Barret into his chair and handed him a tissue to sooth his burning eyes.

**The Closet**

The closet door opened, Aeris stepped in, humming cheerfully. She turned on the light and gasped at the 3 unconscious bodies on the floor. Cid was sucking his thumb as he slept.

"What the hell happened here?!" She exclaimed.

Cid mumbled and woke up "Aeris...is that you?"

"Cid, what happened?" Aeris asked "...and why are you sucking your thumb?" She curiously added.

Cid paused and put his thumb behind his back. He smiled sheepishly, Aeris rolled her eyes.

"I just um..." He started, then skipped his sleeping habit "You might wanna call a mechanic...and an ambulance"

"Well what happened?" Aeris asked and shivered "Damn, nobodies safe from that air conditioner"

She closed the door and sighed. Cid groaned and slapped his forehead.

"Damn it!" He said "Why did you close the door!?"

Aeris was puzzled; she tried to open the door and realized why Cid was pissed.

"Uh-oh...not good" She nervously said.

Cid growled and slammed his fist on the floor.

"Sorry Cid..." Aeris meekly said.

"Doesn't matter, we'll get out of here one way or another" Cid said "In case your wondering, Vincent got knocked out by a bowling ball but not before he put Yuffie to sleep"

Aeris clamped a hand over her mouth.

"No no...she's not dead, just unconscious" Cid said.

"Well...how are we gonna get out of here?" Aeris said.

"I don't know. Vincent left his gun in his room so we can't shoot the hinges and we don't have any materia either" Cid explained hopelessly.

Aeris shrugged and sat down "Perfect, I come in here for a blanket and I end up trapped"

"Blanket?" Cid asked.

"Like I said, the AC is turning this hotel into a meat locker" Aeris replied.

Yuffie moaned softly and slowly came to.

"Yuffie, you're awake" Aeris said.

"Huh? Aeris how'd you get in here?"

"That's not important" Vincent said as he woke up, a large bruise was on his head "Right now all that matters is how we're gonna get out of here"

"Well...hurry up...I'm afraid of confined spaces!" Yuffie babbled nervously.

"Well, first of all, we have no weapons or materia and the doors too thick for anyone to hear us outside" Cid explained.

"What about your spear?" Aeris suggested.

"Tried it already, the door's reinforced so the spear won't do the job" Cid replied.

"It doesn't matter" Yuffie said. "Tifa and Barret are at the doctor's office, Reds sleeping outside, Caitsith is still deactivated and Cloud is at the beach. Nobody would hear us anyway"

"The beach? He was there the other day" Aeris said.

"Who gives a damn!?" Yuffie screamed. "We've gotta get out of here!"

"SHUT UP YUFFIE!!!" The others shouted in unison, Yuffie winced at their tone.

"Wait..." Cid said "I've got an idea!"

Cid snatched a box of fireworks from the shelf and placed it against the door.

"Anyone got a match?" Cid asked. "Just kidding I have my own" he chuckled.

"Stop joking around you dumb blonde!" Yuffie said impatiently.

Ignoring her, Cid opened grabbed a book of matches from his pocket and frowned…he had only 1 match left, much to the despair of the others.

"Don't breathe" he said softly.

He struck the match but before he could light the fuse...Aeris sneezed and the match went out. The others were eerily silent at first; they glared at the flower girl who backed away in fear.

"Aeris..." Vincent said sternly "If Cid and Yuffie weren't here to interfere, I'd be squeezing your neck like a paper tube!" his tone was slow and dead-serious, Aeris broke into a cold sweat.

"I...it w-was a...an accident!" Aeris stammered "I have allergies for god's sake!"

"That's it! I DON'T NEED THEM TO STOP ME!!!" Vincent howled, his voice beaming with mindless rage.

At that moment, Vincent's calm and collected demeanor vanished, replaced by a brutal and relentless attitude. Being trapped in a closet for so long had finally set him off.

Aeris shrieked as Vincent lunged at her and violently seized her by the neck. Yuffie and Cid frantically stopped Vincent as he mercilessly tried to throttle the petrified flower girl.

**The Doctors Office**

Tifa and Barret were in luck. Dr. Evans was more experienced and compassionate than most of the staff.

"Well Mr. Wallace, it seems your ear drum is slightly ruptured" Evans concluded "But with daily ear drops it should be as good as new in a few weeks"

Barret stared at the doctor. "I can't hear you very well…but whatever" He dully said.

Evans noticed Barrets eyes, still red from the waiting room.

"What happened to your eyes?"

"It's…it's a long story" Tifa babbled. "Anyway "Is there anything I should do…for his eyes?" She added.

"Yes, in fact, make sure he avoids loud noises. You know, fire works and stuff like that" Evans suggested.

"All right…thanks doc" Barret said.

"Don't forget your lollypop" Evans said, holding up a green lollypop.

Barret angrily stared at the doctor and slapped the candy from his hand, much to the doctor's surprise. He stormed out with Tifa following behind.

**The Closet**

Miraculously, Cid and Yuffie managed to calm Vincent and convince him that choking Aeris wasn't worth it.

"I'd much rather choke Yuffie anyway" Vincent smugly said, Yuffie glared at him in return.

"Oh, that's very nice of you" Yuffie sarcastically said "Homicidal necromancer!"

"Guys…" Cid muttered, trying to catch their attention.

"I'm not freakin necromancer!" Vincent protested.

"Guys!" Cid repeated loudly.

"Well you're sure as hell acting homicidal!" Aeris cried.

"GUYS!!!" Cid shouted fiercely, finally shutting everyone up. "For now, we should just wait until the others get home and hopefully find us! We're not gonna get out with all this damn bickering, ok!"

Finally, after so much fighting and arguing, everyone sat down and kept quiet.

**End of Chapter**


	10. Chapter 10

**AUTHORS NOTE:** I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, I've been through hell lately at school. I still own _absolutely nothing _from Square Enix and any other characters (Captain Raptor for example) are my original creations.

**The Hotel Closet  
Noon of the 4th day**

At least 4 hours had passed but it seemed much longer for the unfortunate foursome locked in the closet.

"How much longer can they possibly take," Yuffie groaned impatiently. "I'm running out of oxygen!"

"We're all running out of oxygen," Cid said dully.

"I need it the most!" Yuffie cried. "And stop smoking, your polluting my oxygen!"

Cid put his cigarette out and stared at Yuffie in a most annoyed manner.

"It's always you," Cid grumbled, "Your oxygen! Your life! How can you be so selfish!?"

"Well..." Yuffie replied, "how can you be so...weak! Is smoking that addictive!? Is it more important than the need to breath!?"

"Will you two stop bickering for 3 seconds!" Vincent said, suddenly raising his voice.

"He started it," Yuffie said as she pointed accusingly at Cid.

Vincent clenched his teeth with uncontrolled frustration and furiously burst out.

"I DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS WHO STARTED IT!!!" He howled. "JUST SHUT UP!!!"

"Guys please," Aeris begged, "no more arguing!" She calmly sat down. "Lets all just stop yelling and wait just a little bit longer."

"You said that 20 minutes ago," Cid reminded.

"Well...then we'll just have to wait another 20 minutes," Aeris said indifferently.

"Minutes?" Yuffie said "I think you mean, years!

"Oh god," Cid said, sounding exasperated, "she's starting to lose it again."

Yuffie abruptly stood up and flailed her hands with panic.

"We're gonna be trapped in here forever!" Yuffie cried hopelessly.

"Yuffie, sit down," Vincent said sternly.

"No! Worse!" Yuffie continued, her voice almost a screech. "We're gonna starve to death!"

Vincent stood up and violently pointed at Yuffie.

"Yuffie, I mean it!" Vincent warned. "Sit down!"

Yuffie took a step towards Vincent.

"Stop telling me what to do!" She cried.

Aeris joined in; half-defending Yuffie.

"Yuffie just sit down. Let's not make this worse," Aeris said.

Yuffie paused, sighed and slumped to the floor.

"Your right Cid...I am losing it," Yuffie said softly, finally admitting her weakness and nearly sobbing.

Vincent sat down as well, exhausted from anger.

Aeris compassionately patted the young ninjas shoulder.

"In a way," Aeris added "I think we're all starting to lose it."

Cid and Vincent nodded; they silently agreed.

**The Beach**

Cloud peacefully lay on his beach towel as the sun tanned his body. Half-asleep, he failed to notice a shadow engulf him from behind.

"Hey spiky! Wake up!" A loud voice said.

Before Cloud could react, he was seized by the shirt and lifted into the air, a stocky life guard stared into his eyes.

"Wha...it's you again," Cloud said, quickly recognizing the man...the same life guard who sexually harassed Tifa during Mauna Loas eruption.

"The names Lance and don't you forget it," The life guard snarled.

Cloud didn't answer, he kept quiet for his own sake.

"Now tell me, where is that chick with the..._ahem_...ripe melons?" He lecherously asked.

Cloud was appalled; his eyes and mouth narrowed with anger. Lance wasn't amused.

"Oh what," Lance said mockingly "is she your girlfriend?"

Lance dropped Cloud. "Oh, you want me to back off?" Lance continued obnoxiously.

"Perverted bastard!" Cloud hissed.

"Shut your mouth!" Lance said harshly "You can't keep a girl away from me!" His tone took a near demented turn. "Nobody can!"

**In the Car**

"I can't believe he offered me a lollipop," Barret said.

"He was just being nice, Barret," Tifa said as she drove the car.

"Oh, come on!" Barret said adamantly. "Since when does a 35 year old guy with a gun arm want a lollipop!? Should be saving that for the little brats running up and down the halls"

"Barret!" Tifa snapped. "That's nice to say!"

"What?!" Barret said. "It's true, all they do is scream and throw toys at you in the waiting room!"

"You weren't any better when you were young," Tifa reminded. "Your drinking habit in high school is just the tip of the iceberg"

Barret paused and finally backed down. Tifa was right. Barret had go through some rather bizarre situations, most of which he preferred to keep to himself.

"Anyway," Tifa resumed "we gotta pick up Sephiroth from the salon."

**The Salon**

Sephiroth sat quietly and comfortably in a chair as a young woman carefully groomed his hair. It was a heavenly experience for Sephiroth.

"Ah. Yes," Sephiroth sighed "your hands work beautifully"

The groomer smiled. "Thank you, sir"

"Call me Sephiroth, that's my only name," Sephiroth said "although my friends call me Sephy sometimes,"

"Sephy. I like that," The groomer giggled, "sounds cute," She winked.

"Thanks…and your name?" He asked.

"Cathy," She replied.

Sephiroth smiled and relaxed.

**The Beach**

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, wimp!" Lance threatened as he held Cloud down with a foot to the back. "Where is the girl?!"

"Go fuck yourself!" Cloud spat, "Stay away from her, or I'll…"

"Or you'll what? Call me names!?" Lance cackled. "You ain't so tough, spiky! I could shine my surfboard with you!"

Cloud wasn't intimidated though, he only showed anger for Lances bragging.

Suddenly, a clump of sand struck Lance in the head from behind. He spun and saw the kid who beat him with a shovel the other day. Behind the child was a group of 10 other kids, all of them armed with shovels.

"There he is! That's the guard who wrecked my sand castle!" The leader called as he pointed at Lance.

"Uh-oh…." Lance said slowly as he ignored Cloud and ran off. The mob of children chased after the fleeing life guard.

"Thank god," Cloud said with relief as he stood up. "Time to leave!"

After quickly packing his things, Cloud ran off, bound for the hotel.

**The Salon**

"All done Sephy," Cathy said.

Sephiroth gazed into a mirror and praised his revived hair. He stood from his chair, turned and looked at Cathy.

"My gratitude is more than just money," Sephiroth said softly.

The Cathy puzzled at first but then realized Sephiroths intentions.

"Oh, Mr. Sephiroth," She said nervously "you don't have to..."

Sephiroth gently shushed her, neared her face and..."Sephiroth, time to go"

Sephiroth spun and spotted Tifa standing in the doorway. Sephiroth growled with disappointment. He came so close.

"C'mon. We gotta pick up dinner on the way back," Tifa said.

Sephiroth looked at Cathy. She shrugged.

"Look um...Cathy...just give me a call, wait my number!" Sephiroth stuttered, anxiously pulling out his phone book and pen.

"Come on, Sephiroth!" Tifa said impatiently.

Sephiroth rapidly wrote his number down and tossed it to Cathy.

"Just call me anytime...no actually, I'm busy on Tuesdays and Thursdays but the weekends are always free," Sephiroth babbled.

Tifa tried to seize Sephiroth by the hair but he swiftly grabbed her wrist.

"Don't…you…dare!" He said menacingly. "If you must use force, do it by the ear!"

"Whatever…" Tifa said dully as she deliberately grabbed Sephiroths ear and dragged him out of the salon.

**The Hotel Closet**

After a game of charades, truth or dare and spin the bottle, the foursome came up with a new idea.

"Anybody got a pen and paper?" Vincent said.

"I have a marker and a cocktail napkin…" Yuffie said.

Vincent took them without a word and jotted down a note, which read: _Help! We are trapped in the closet and the doors broken from the inside!_

Vincent slipped the napkin under the door.

"There, once somebody comes to the closet, they'll see the note, open the door and we'll be out of here!" Vincent said hopefully.

Everyone smiled and felt they would finally be free within a short while.

**In the Car**

"Looking good, Sephiroth," Barret complimented.

"Thanks. Point of fact: I've never looked better. Unlike you Barret, with those barbaric corn rows and you Tifa with that childish pony tail," Sephiroth rudely replied.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Barret said, suddenly annoyed.

"Oh come on!" Sephiroth scoffed. "You people don't know the first thing about grooming!"

Barret and Tifa scowled at Sephiroths arrogance.

"And you don't know the first thing about manners!" Barret snarled with his arms crossed.

"Can it!" Tifa shouted. "Both of you!"

"He started it!" Barret and Sephiroth said in unison as both men pointed at one another.

"I don't care who started it, just keep your mouths shut!" Tifa concluded.

**Not far from the cars location**

After losing the mob of angry kids and escaping the beach on his bike, Lance decided to head for home. He had a rough day and lost his chance at finding out where Tifa was, much to his dismay…..but not for long. While waiting at a traffic light, he briefly caught a glimpse of Tifas beautiful face as she drove in her rental car while arguing with Barret and Sephiroth.

Lance paused, smiled wickedly and drove through the red light…the chase was on.

"Ready or not…here I come!" He whispered.

Unfortunately for Lance, a cop was on patrol and spotted the careless life guard. After pulling Lance over, the cop casually walked up to him, wrote him a ticket and without a word, walked off. Lance flipped the cop off but he then was written another ticket. The cop walked off…again.

"Stupid pig!" Lance snarled under his breath which the cop somehow overheard and wrote, yet again, another ticket.

Lance smacked his head with frustration.

**In the Car**

"We're gonna grab some dinner on the way back," Tifa said.

Barret sprang from his seat and simultaneously grabbed Tifas shoulder and pointed at a burger shop. Tifa nearly lost control of the car.

"Right there, Teef!" He said frantically. "Drive through! Right there!"

Tifa angrily pushed Barret off. "Knock it off, Barret! We're not having burgers for dinner!"

"Awwwww!" Barret whined.

"We're having pizza!" Tifa said with a smile.

"Oh," Barret said, suddenly cheerful, "that's even better!"

**The Hotel**

Cloud had just returned from the beach. He walked over to the closet to put his stuff away but found a napkin underneath the door.

The napkin had a message, which read: _Help! We are trapped in the closet and the doors broken from the inside!_

"Trapped? What the…" Cloud mumbled curiously but the moment he opened the door. "HOLY SHIT!!!" He cried, nearly falling backwards.

Cid, Yuffie, Vincent and Aeris instantly lunged out of the closet and kissed the ground wildly.

"Thank god!" Yuffie cried with maniacal joy. "Oxygen! Fresh oxygen!"

"At last! We're free!" Cid added.

Aeris hugged Cloud. "You saved us Cloud, we've been trapped in there for hours!"

Cloud was baffled; entirely unsure how to react.

"Uh…ok…..you can spare me the details until dinner," He said simply.

RedXII out of the living room and to the group.

"So," Red said, "you guys finally got out."

The foursome stared at Red.

"What?!" Yuffie cried. "You knew we were in there all along!?"

"Well…yeah," Red nervously replied.

"Why the fuck didn't you let us out!?" Cid shouted, barely hesitating to strangle Red.

"I can't open doors," he answered as he held up his paw. "I have no opposable thumbs."

Before anyone could answer, the front door opened. Tifa, Barret and Sephiroth stepped in with a few pizzas.

"Everyone, we're home with dinner," Tifa called.

"DINNER!!!" The formerly trapped foursome cheered as they rushed into the kitchen.

Tifa and Barret were puzzled by the foursomes behavior. Sephiroth didn't care.

"What the hells up with them?" Barret said.

"Once again," Cloud said "we'll talk about it over dinner."

**End of Chapter**


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note:** I can't tell you how sorry I am for the delay. I've gone through a _lot_ of stuff lately. This summers been kinda rough but I promise to update faster. I've already got the next chapter under way so you won't have to wait much longer, not anymore. Enjoy!

**The Hotel Kitchen (Night of the fourth day)**

Vincent, Cid, Yuffie and Aeris had just finished eating dinner and telling the story of how they got stuck in the closet. Tifa and Cloud found it amusing.

"I gotta tell you," Cid said. "This vacations becoming more and more fucked up everyday."

"You can say that again," Aeris agreed.

"And I've seen the brunt of it. First I accidentally blow up a monument, then I have a near-death experience in a thunder storm, then I argue with some haughty asshole whose name is "unimportant", then I get locked in a large closet for almost 4 hours," Cid summarized. "What's next, a plague of locusts!?"

"This isn't the Old Testament, Cid," Vincent said. "But still it wouldn't be wise to anger the lord."

Cid shook his head. "God damn it Vince, don't be so…"

"Don't blaspheme!" Vincent said harshly.

"I can't imagine how much better your day was, Cloud." Yuffie commented. "How was the beach?"

Cloud didn't answer. Yuffies question had retracted something to Clouds mind.

"Cloud, are you listening?" Yuffie said.

Cloud stood up. He gently grabbed Tifa by the shoulder.

"What is it, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Can I just…talk to you…upstairs…in my room?" Cloud nervously replied.

Puzzled, Tifa got up and followed Cloud out of the kitchen.

"You know," Yuffie said with a smile. "I always thought Cloud had a thing for Tifa."

"You can't assume everything, Yuff," Vincent replied, shaking his head.

"Oh come on. Their practically lovers," Yuffie said. "I can almost picture them in bed."

"That's very cute, Yuffie," Aeris said sarcastically with a half-smile.

Yuffie scoffed softly and resumed eating.

**Tifa's Room**

Cloud sat next to Tifa on her bed.

"Tifa…you won't believe who I met at the beach?"

Tifa paused, "Who?" She asked.

"That perverted lifeguard from the other day," Cloud answered.

"Oh, yeah, that guy," Tifa said with a sigh, slightly worried. "Did you fight him?" She asked.

Cloud shook his head. "Not really. But I think he's after you," He explained.

"After me," Tifa said. "What the hell for?"

"Well, he is a sexual predator so it's seems kinda obvious but don't worry. If he comes by…I'll kick his ass for you, ok?" Cloud said sincerely.

Tifa smiled warmly. Cloud smiled back as they locked eyes in a modest manner.

"Thank you…Cloud," Tifa said softly.

There was a paused.

"But if he kicks your ass instead, I'll kick his ass for the both of us," Tifa added.

"All right…fair enough," Cloud said with a shrug.

**The Kitchen**

Cid had just finished his meal when the phone rang. He stood up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Hello…Blondie. Remember me?"_ The caller said. The voice was familiar.

"Raptor!? What do you want? How do you even know this number?" Cid asked.

"_That's not important, just like my first name. I want you down at the airfield right now. I wanna show you something,"_ Raptor said.

"Do I have to?" Cid said. "I just finished eating."

"_You're not scared, are you?"_ Raptor asked.

"Hell no!" Cid answered angrily.

"_Then get your ass down here! Pronto! Bring your friend if you want."_

Cid figured it was a challenge. Cid had been so desperate to convince Raptor that he had to go.

"_All right, I'll be there in a sec. This had better be good wise guy!"_ Cid said as he hung up. "For Christ's sake," he muttered with a sigh.

"I said don't do that, Cid!" Vincent said.

"Shut up, Vincent!" Cid shouted. "Since when did you become the religious type?"

"Since I started reading this bible I found in the closet," Vincent answered, taking the book out of his pocked.

Cid sighed and started out of the kitchen.

"Cid," Aeris said. "Where are you going?"

"That Raptor prick just called," Cid answered.

"Raptor? Is that his first name or last?" Yuffie asked.

"His last name."

"What's his first name?"

"Hell, I don't know. He say's its unimportant. Are you coming, Aeris?"

Aeris nodded and followed Cid out of the hotel. They got into Cid's plane and flew off, leaving Vincent and Yuffie in the kitchen alone.

"You know…that anchovy prank was pretty clever," Yuffie admitted.

Vincent paused and looked at the young ninja.

"It was disgusting but…it was clever," Yuffie continued.

"Yeah, well…..I guess I went a little far that night. After all, that ejector seat thing _was_ an accident," Vincent replied.

Yuffie nodded. They were both quiet again.

"But I still don't like you…or your outfit," Yuffie finished and resumed eating.

Vincent sighed and shook his head.

**Ford Island Airfield**

Cid and Aeris arrived at the airstrip where Raptor and was waiting.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Blondie the chain-smoker and his girlfriend Princess Peach," Raptor cackled.

"Shut your mouth, Raptor!" Cid snarled. "What do you want?"

Raptor smiled and nodded and jerked his head to the right. Cid and Aeris looked and on the far side of the airfield they saw 3 giant, steel rings perched atop 3 large hangars. Each ring was as wide as a house and each hangar was about 100 feet apart from one another.

"What is that?" Cid asked.

"That my crop dusting friend is the Tri-Ring Line. The object is to fly your plane through each ring without killing yourself," Raptor explained.

Cid widened his eyes a bit but more out of impression than surprise.

"Well, that doesn't seem too hard," Cid commented. "One question though, has anyone ever completed this before,"

"Aside from myself, no," Raptor replied arrogantly. "But another guy came close," He added.

"Who?" Cid asked.

"My nephew," Raptor answered. "He made through the first 2 but the 3rd clipped his wing and he had to eject. The lucky bastard is here right now."

"Oh. Really?" Aeris said.

"Would you like to meet him? Hey, Dickie! Get over here!" Raptor called out.

A young man approached Raptor from behind. He looked a bit like Raptor, only less scruffy looking.

"What's up Uncle Maurice?" Dickie asked.

Cid and Aeris paused. Raptor frowned and slapped his forehead at the mention of "Maurice".

"Maurice?" Cid said, almost laughing. "That's your first name?!"

Raptor ignored Cid but just barely.

"Hey, Dickie…tell these two low-lifes about the time you almost beat my ring stunt,"

"Oh yeah it was awesome. I made it through the first 2 rings but I hit the last one and I had to eject. You should have seen the look on Uncle Maurice's face, he was super pissed…"

"Um…Dickie," Raptor said quietly but Dickie resumed.

"And then he starts yelling at me and chases me around with a crowbar because it was his favorite plane and then he…"

"Dickie! That's enough!" Raptor shouted; finally silencing his nephew.

"That's a really nice story…Maurice," Aeris said mockingly.

Raptor glared at Aeris; she backed down.

"Thanks…Dickie. But for now could you just…I don't know…..play video games or listen to pop music…or whatever the hell you do," Raptor said.

"Ok. Bye Uncle Maurice," Dickie said as he walked off.

Raptor scowled with frustration. Cid and Aeris laughed loudly.

"What are you two pansies laughing at?!" Raptor shouted.

"I gotta tell you," Cid said. "That ring stunt doesn't look very hard at all. I've performed loads of stunts in my time"

Raptor smiled vilely. "Oh yeah, well why don't you try it yourself!"

Aeris frowned but Cid was quite eager. He could never turn down a challenge.

"All right, tough guy. You're on, but you're gonna have to lend me a jet if you want me to take on your little ring stunt," Cid persuaded.

Raptor frowned and sighed. "Fine, but if you land a single scratch on that jet, your paying for it, all $500000 of it," He said.

"All right," Cid said with a shrug. "But if I land it all perfectly, you let me keep the jet and let me practice here whenever I want."

"What?!" Raptor cried. "There ain't no way I'm doing that!"

"I'll drop out of the competition if I scratch the jet," Cid added.

Raptor paused, scratched his chin and smiled.

"Hangar C," Raptor said smugly. "And don't touch anything else!"

Cid looked at Aeris. She smiled and nodded. Cid walked away, leaving Aeris with Raptor.

"So," Raptor said. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Aeris felt insulted. "No," she said harshly. "We're just good friends."

Raptor crossed his arms and laughed. Aeris became more irritated.

"Yeah, that's what they all say. A little old for you, isn't he?" Raptor said.

**Hangar C**

Cid quickly found the jet: an F-16 Fighting Falcon sitting alone in the center of the hangar.

The jet was in very good shape, had plenty of fuel and was perfectly built for stunts. Cid liked it better than almost any other machine he'd seen.

"Not bad, Maurice," Cid commented as he climbed inside the jet and started it up.

**Ford Island Airfield**

Aeris and Raptor watched as Cid drove the jet out of the hangar. He turned about, stopped at one end of the runway and faced the set of rings. He was ready for take off.

"He's either very brave or very stupid to try it," Raptor said.

Aeris ignored Raptor and focused on Cid. From inside the cockpit, he gave her a thumbs-up and drove the plane down the runway. After a few seconds, the jet roared and lifted into the air. Raptor casually lit a cigarette as he watched Cid fly towards the rings. Aeris crossed her fingers and prayed.

"Feast your eyes on some real flying, Maurice!" Cid hollered.

Cid turned the plane, straightened it out and glided through the first ring without any effort. The second ring was just as easy but the third slightly threw his plane off balance.

"_All too easy"_

It all happened so fast Raptor barely had time to realize it. Aeris smiled warmly and clapped her hands together in joy.

"I don't believe it!" Raptor snarled as he reached into his pocket.

Aeris watched as Raptor pulled out a small radio, switched it on and angrily spoke into it.

"Hey! Blondie!" Raptor said. "Do that again!"

"You got it, Maurice!" Cid answered.

Cid laughed as he turned the plane and jerked the joystick to the right. The jet spun as it traveled through the set of rings again. Raptors stared in disbelief, his cigarette dropped from his mouth.

"Way to go Cid!" Aeris cheered.

Cid balanced the plane, descended and landed just in front of Raptor and Aeris. Raptor growled and violently threw the radio to the ground, smashing it into pieces. Aeris almost laughed but decided not to irritate Raptor any further. Cid opened the cockpit; he had a very proud look on his face.

"Not bad. Huh?" Cid commented as he climbed out of the jet.

Raptor scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Oh. Don't be that way…Maurice!" Cid laughed. "Did your parents name you that, or did you change your name that way yourself?"

Raptors face went red. Veins throbbed in his temples as he stared menacingly at Cid.

"Shut up you fucking show-off!" Raptor shouted with rage. "You may have won this little stunt but you sure as hell won't win the damn competition! I promise you that, Blondie!"

Raptor spat at the ground by Cids feet. Cid shook his head and reached into his jacket.

"By the way, I found this in the glove compartment."

Cid pulled out a "Playboy" magazine and tossed it over to Raptor. He gasped and hid it behind his back. Without a word, he ran off. Cid and Aeris laughed.

"That guys got some problems," Aeris said with a smile.

"Forget about him. I proved one thing: I'm good enough for that competition. I bet they've never seen someone like me before!" Cid commented.


	12. Chapter 12

**AUTHORS NOTE:** I own absolutely nothing from Final Fantasy VII. Any other character (Maurice Raptor, Lance) in this story is purely fictional and they not based on live people or any other original character.

**The Hotel (Afternoon of the 5****th**** day)**

Cloud and Tifa decided to go out for lunch together. The diner they went to a few days earlier with Barret was closed down for repairs so they found a more fanciful restaurant. Cloud had made reservations. It was basically a date.

"Tifa, are you ready yet?" Cloud called up to Tifa's room.

"Just about," Tifa responded.

Upstairs, Tifa was adjusting her outfit: a smooth black dress. She looked unsure of her attire in the mirror. Aeris looked into Tifa's room through the doorway.

"Hey Tifa," Aeris said. "What are you dressing up for?"

"Cloud and I are going out," Tifa replied.

"Oh that's nice," Aeris said, slightly jealous though. "I like your dress," She commented.

"Yeah, it's nice but I think it's a little tight. Does it make my ass look big?" Tifa asked, turning around.

"No, not really," Aeris answered honestly.

"Thanks, Aeris. See you later," Tifa said as she walked out of the room.

Tifa came down the stairs where Cloud was waiting; he was wearing a collar shirt and pants. Vincent was sitting on the couch reading a book, Yuffie was sitting next to him watching TV. Red XIII was sleeping on the floor.

"Where are you two going?" Yuffie asked.

"We're going out for lunch," Tifa replied.

"We'll be back by 12:00 PM. Just hold down the fort," Cloud added.

"You got it, Cloud," Vincent said.

Cloud and Tifa walked out the door.

"10 bucks says they come back and make love," Yuffie giggled.

"Oh yeah? 20 bucks says you're wrong," Vincent replied.

"You're on!" Yuffie said.

"Will you two shut up?!" Red XIII grumbled as he woke up. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Sleep? Its 1 in the afternoon, Red," Yuffie said.

"I know. I was at the mall earlier and people mistook me for an escaped zoo animal. They shot me with a tranquilizer before I explained everything to them. I'm still drowsy from the side effects," Red explained.

"You know, Red. In our world, everyone knows you're an intelligent being but here, you're about as misunderstood as Leatherface," Vincent remarked.

"True" Red yawned.

"By the way, where's Sephiroth?" Vincent asked.

"He's at the car rental," Yuffie replied.

**Al's Car Rent**

Sephiroth was checking out a black Mercedes 2003 S430 at a local dealership. Al, the dealer, was a somewhat sleazy fellow but Sephiroth ignored it.

"This ones in pretty good shape," Al explained. "It's got low mileage and it only has one scratch on the back left door. What do you think?"

Sephiroth crossed his arms. "Not bad," he said flatly.

Al cocked his brow. "Not bad? Come on, it's probably the best car available here now. Just look at the other half-wits trying to get a car," Al said, pointing to another customer.

Sephiroth stared at a man next to the Mercedes. He was checking out an old car.

"This one seems good," The customer said. "Looks pretty solid too."

The customer gently patted the cars roof and it immediately fell apart like a stack of dominoes. The customer was bewildered.

"You're paying for that, dumbass!" Al shouted to the customer and turned back to Sephiroth. "You won't find anything better than this, pretty boy."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. He was obviously annoyed.

"Watch your mouth," Sephiroth snarled. "If it's the best you've got, then I guess I'll take it."

Al smiled and handed Sephiroth a pen and paper.

"Very good Mr. Sephiroth. Just sign here, here and here and the cars yours for a week. You can cancel the contract any time you want" Al said.

"Anytime I want?" Sephiroth asked.

"Yeah…but that reduces the amount of money I get so…do me a favor and just keep it for the week all right? I hate it when people bring it back after 2 days, you know what I mean?" Al explained, blatantly showing his greed.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and signed the contract. Al gave Sephiroth the key to the car. Without another word, Sephiroth got into the car and drove away.

**Outside the Hotel**

With their arms looped, Cloud and Tifa climbed into a Dodge Intrepid that Cloud had recently rented. In fact, everyone in the group had rented a car (except Yuffie, who didn't have her license yet and Red XIII, who had no opposable thumbs to grip the steering wheel). Cloud drove.

"I like this car," Cloud commented as he drove on. "But I like my bike better. Too bad I couldn't take it with me."

"So where is this place we're going to?" Tifa asked, quickly changing the topic.

"It's about 10 blocks away from the hotel. It's called Dan's Place," Cloud answered.

"Is it good?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah it's supposed to be pretty good," Cloud replied. "I hear it's a lot better than that dingy diner we went to a few days ago."

**The Hotel Basement**

Cid had taken his time to repair Caitsith, who had been deactivated for a whole day.

"All right, Caitsith. Let's see if I can you up and running again," Cid murmured to himself.

Cid had to replace most of Caitsiths parts, the old ones were damaged beyond repair. He activated Caitsith. The mechanical cat clicked and whirred as he came back to life.

"Caitsith, look at me are you okay?" Cid asked.

Caitsith looked at Cid curiously.

"Yeah, I'm okay but my brain feels kinda itchy," Caitsith said.

"Don't worry about that," Cid said. "You fell into the pool at the luau but…you should be all right in a few hours".

Caitsith paused nervously.

"What do you mean I'll be all right?" Caitsith asked.

"Well, I had to rebuild you using some spare parts I bought yesterday," Cid answered.

"Such as?" Caitsith asked.

Cid reached into his pocked and pulled out a list.

"Well, first of all, your eyes are camera lens, your arms and legs are partially made from k-nex and your brain is part of a CPU I stole from Raptor," Cid explained.

"Who's Raptor?" Caitsith asked.

**Ford Island Airfield**

In his office, Raptor was angrily pounding his fist on his computer filter as he tried to activate it to no avail.

"C'mon your stupid piece of garbage! I spent a fortune on this thing!" Raptor shouted.

**The Hotel Basement**

"And your lower body is made from a fax machine," Cid concluded.

Caitsith suddenly shook and twitched, followed by a beeping sound.

"Whoa! I don't know where that came from," Caitsith said, embarrassed.

Cid stared in surprise.

"Uh…Caitsith, do you know there's paper coming out of your ass?" Cid said.

**Dan's Place**

Cloud and Tifa had just reached the restaurant. They walked inside and sat down at their reserved table.

"I hope this place is better than the diner we went to the other day," Tifa said.

"Well its fancier, that's good enough for me," Cloud replied.

The waiter approached the couple.

"Good afternoon, what will you be having?" The waiter asked.

Cloud and Tifa looked at their menus and decided.

"I'll have the twin broiled lobster tails with mashed potatoes," Cloud said.

"I'll take the chicken casadia with soup," Tifa said.

The waiter wrote both orders down and left the table.

"Service is a lot faster too," Cloud commented. "That guy at the diner couldn't even hold his pen."

Unbeknownst to Cloud and Tifa…Lance, former lifeguard, was watching the couple from a distance. He was recently fired from his last job. He eyed Tifa like the lecher he was, surprised to see her.

"I can't believe it. She's actually here. But so is that blonde wuss-bag!" Lance said under his breath.

One of Lance's workmates, Gary Kurth, approached him from behind. Gary was thin, with red hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, Lance. There's a customer who wants to talk to you,"

"Not now, Gary. Go away!" Lance said rudely.

Gary sighed and walked away.

"I guess this new job isn't so bad after all. All I have to do is separate them and I'll abduct her and…" Lance schemed but Gary interrupted him again.

"Lance, the customer really needs to…"

"Not _NOW_ Gary!" Lance snarled.

Gary walked away again, becoming annoyed.

"And then I'll do whatever I want with her. I might as well get some _pleasure_ from…"

"Lance, the customer is getting angry. Could you just…"

_BAM!!!_

Without warning, Lance violently punched Gary in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"Next time you bother me, I'm reporting you to the manager!" Lance shouted.

**The Hotel**

Cid went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Aeris was already at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

"Hello, Aeris," Cid said.

"Hey, Cid. Want some coffee?" Aeris replied.

Cid nodded, poured himself a cup and sat down.

"If there's one thing I love as much smoking, its coffee," Cid commented.

"By the way, when are you gonna quit smoking?" Aeris asked.

"I don't know," Cid replied. "Probably never."

Aeris frowned. She was obviously worried for Cid, having grown fond of him over the past few days.

"It's bad for your health, Cid. Plus it's causing problems," Aeris said.

"Problems? Like what?" Cid asked. His brow cocked in confusion.

"Well, to start, you blew up the memorial," Aeris said.

"Oh well…"

"And the time you dropped your cigarette in Tifa's hair,"

"Yeah but…"

"And the time you accidentally burnt Barret's favorite chair."

"Ok! Fine!" Cid whined. "So it's caused a few problems here and there. Big deal!"

Aeris sighed and finished her coffee.

"All I'm saying is that you have to stop sooner or later," Aeris concluded.

Cid huffed and took out his pack of cigarettes.

"You want me to quit, fine! I'll work on it, starting today!" He said angrily as he lit his last cigarette.

He then stood up, walked over the kitchen closet and opened it. Aeris' jaw dropped when she saw hundreds of packs of cigarettes inside the closet. Cid grabbed one and put it into his pocket.

"Damn, Cid. Where'd you get all those cigarettes?" Aeris asked.

"Um…this is my…uh…big stash. I buy a bunch of cigarettes every month so I can save time on the road," Cid said nervously.

Aeris looked at her newspaper and saw an article reading: _"Unidentified Man Jacks Cigarette Truck"_. She rolled her eyes.

"It's not easy quitting, is it?" Aeris asked.

"No, but I'll get to it, I promise," Cid replied, trying to sound honest. "I'm going out for some grub," He added as he walked out of the kitchen.

Cid left the hotel and drove off in a car he rented: A 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood he got from a classic dealer. He saw a restaurant down the street called "Dan's Place" and figured it was a good place to eat. After a quick lunch, he'd probably go down to the airfield and show off his skills to Raptor again.

**Dan's Place**

Cloud and Tifa were enjoying their food while Lance stood nearby, eyeing them carefully.

"All I have to do is wait till she goes to the bathroom, go in, nab her and then I'll sneak out and then, I'll sneak out, and take her to my, _ahem, _hideout."

Tifa got up and did just what Lance had hoped for. Excited and determined, he snuck past Cloud and followed Tifa without her noticing. Lance was slick and elusive, it wasn't the first time he had stalked a girl.

**Dan's Place (Parking lot)**

Cid had just arrived at Dan's. He parked his car and stood outside the door to finish his cigarette. He pondered on what he and Aeris briefly spoke about, concerning his smoking habit.

"Maybe it _is _time that I finally quit smoking, or at least cut down," Cid murmured to himself, scratching his chin.

**Dan's place (Woman's restroom)**

Tifa wasn't using the restroom but merely re-braiding her ponytail. She was hanging her head over a sink, oblivious to Lance's entry. She looked up and saw Lances grinning face in the mirror. Shocked, Tifa spun and faced Lance.

"You!" She cried.

Before Tifa could defend herself, Lance shoved an ether soaked rag beneath her nose, rendering her unconscious. With a triumphant laugh, Lance placed Tifa's body inside a garbage can and dragged it out of the bathroom.

Tifa's body was well hidden, and Lance drew no attention as he dragged her out of the restaurant, passing Cid as he came inside but the pilot didn't see Tifa inside the garbage can.

"Out of the way, grandma!" Lance shouted as he aggressively pushed an elderly woman out of his way as he exited the restaurant.

Lance placed Tifa's body in the trunk of his 1997 Mustang coupe in the parking lot (his motorcycle was at the repair shop). He closed the trunk and smiled, already making plans to "pleasure" himself once he took the girl to his "hideout".

"Lance, where are you going?" a voice said from behind Lance.

Surprised, Lance spun and angrily stared at Gary, who was standing in the doorway of the restaurant. He had a black eye, due to Lance's recent abuse. He caught a glimpse of Tifa's face in Lance's car trunk, much to his surprise. Lance purposely blocked Gary's view of Tifa.

"Ummm…home. The uh…the boss is letting me leave early today," Lance said nervously.

Gary cocked his brow. "Why? Did something happen?" He asked, already half-suspicious.

"No…no I just…my mother's birthday is today and I've got a surprise party set up at my house. I gotta be there before she gets home from work," Lance said, impressed by his cover up.

"Am I invited?" Gary asked.

"No!" Lance shouted. "Now get fuck off, before I mangle your other eye!"

Without looking back, Lance got into his car and drove away, nearly crashing into another car as he went. Gary stood in the doorway, puzzled and annoyed at the same time. Additionally, he wondered what Lance was _really_ doing…with Tifa.

**Dan's (Interior)**

Cloud was waiting impatiently for Tifa. He saw Cid step inside the restaurant.

"Hey Cid, over here," Cloud called out, waving to Cid.

Cid noticed Cloud and sat opposite to him.

"Hey, Cloud," Cid said. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Tifa and I came here for a date, but she's been in the bathroom for 5 minutes," Cloud answered.

"Well, perhaps she's taking a #2, or putting on some makeup, or pondering the possibility of you two getting it on when you return home," Cid wise cracked.

Annoyed, Cloud glared at Cid.

"Very funny, flyboy," Cloud muttered.

"What? That's how my first date ended," Cid said.

"Really?" Cloud asked curiously.

Cid paused and sighed.

"No…not really," Cid replied shamefully.

Gary the waiter walked towards the table. Cloud stood up and tapped Gary on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir," Cloud said.

Gary turned around, exposing his swollen, black eye, surprising Cloud.

"What happened to your eye?" Cid asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. How can I help you?" Gary said.

"Have you seen a girl, long brown hair, black dress?" Cloud asked.

Gary looked nervous. "Um…there's no easy way for me to say this…..so I'll just say it, one of my co-workers just abducted her and drove off," He answered.

Cloud and Cid's eyes went wide, their jaws dropping. They looked at each other.

"Did you see who took her!?" Cloud demanded, very much concerned.

"Yeah, his name is Lance Rogan. He's tall, muscular and he used to be a life guard at the beach before he got fired for harassing a girl," Gary answered.

The description fit Clouds mind quickly. He realized it was the same Lance he encountered on the beach yesterday. Cloud and Cid immediately dashed out of the restaurant, knocking down the same woman Lance knocked down only minutes earlier.

"We'll take my car to the police station!" Cid said.

The two men jumped into the car and drove away. Gary watched from inside the restaurant.

"_Maybe I should help them. I might get a chance to get back at Lance."_

Gary walked out of the restaurant, knocking the elderly woman down once more.

"You little bastards have no respect for senior citizens," the old woman grumbled.

"Sorry ma'am," Gary said as he got into his car and drove away.

**END OF CHAPTER**


	13. Chapter 13

Queen Liliuokalani Highway- Night of the 5th day

**AUTHORS NOTE-** I'm very sorry for the delay. College has been hard but now that its summer I'll have more time to work on my fan fictions. This chapter is a bit more mature but enjoy!

**Queen Liliuokalani Freeway- Night of the 5****th**** day**

Cid drove hastily down the road while Cloud sat next to him. They were trying to find the police station but they didn't know where it was.

"Cid, we'd better stop and ask for directions," Cloud suggested.

"Right," Cid replied.

Cid drove off the highway and onto the main road. They saw a man walking down the sidewalk. Cid pulled over next to the man and opened his window to speak to him.

"Excuse me, sir?" Cid said. "Do you know where we can find the nearest police station?"

"The police station? Yeah, keep going straight for 5 blocks then make a right and go another 3 blocks and it's the first building on the right of the fourth block."

"All right, thanks," Cloud said.

"And if you want something to eat on the way, theres also a restaurant on the same block as the police station," The man added.

"Um…no thanks. We already ate," Cid said.

"But it's a really great restaurant but it ain't free of bar fights," The man said. "Last week I went there, a couple of bikers were tearing up the place and one of them tried to steal my wallet. Then I tried to fight them but they just…OOF!"

Before the man could say another word, Cid punched the man in the face, instantly knocking him unconscious.

"Hey!" Cloud cried. "You didn't have to do that."

"I had to shut him up sooner or later, now let's go before something happens to Tifa," Cid retorted as he drove on.

**An Old Abandoned Warehouse**

Tifa felt dizzy as she woke up. Her head was somewhat numb but it drifted away as she opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings. She was in a small warehouse. It was dark but there was enough light to see. A few rusty drum barrels and empty wooden crates lay around. She was sitting in a wooden chair, her hands were bound…then she remembered what had happened.

"Oh you're awake," A voice said, sounding undeniably familiar.

Tifa turned her head and gasped as she saw Lance, a chilling smile on his face as he stepped out of the shadows and approached Tifa. She glared at him with blatant anger.

"You're that life guard who was harassing me at the beach the other day. And now you've kidnapped me and tied me to a chair? What the hell is your problem?!" Tifa shouted.

"My problem? You're the one who threw across the beach like a toy," Lance said.

"Only because you grabbed my ass," Tifa said.

"Yeah well…" Lance retorted but his cell phone rang. He sighed and answered it.

"Hello…mom?" Lance said. "Mom look I'm busy right now so…no…no I'm not drunk. Listen mom…look I'll be home soon okay?"

While Lance was talking, Tifa began to hop in her chair, towards the warehouse door. Lance had his back turned so he didn't notice.

"Yeah," Lance continued. "Look, I'll be home in about an hour, all right. I'm working late tonight...no I won't be back in time for dinner…..I don't know! Just order a pizza for me or something!"

Tifa had almost reached the door when it opened. Tifa gasped when she saw a tall man with a brown mullet and a leather jacket step inside. He closed the door behind him. He looked at Tifa, then at Lance who had just hung up and turned to face Tifa and the man.

"Hey! How did you get over there?" Lance shouted as he walked over to Tifa.

The man in the jacket looked at Lance and smiled.

"You really know how to choose them, Lance," The man said.

Lance smiled back.

"Damn right I do," Lance replied as he pulled Tifa away from the door.

"Who the hell is he?" Tifa asked.

The man in the jacket lit a cigarette.

"This is my friend, Tony," Lance said. "And he's here to join in on some…fun. If you know what I mean?"

Tifa was puzzled.

"What that's supposed to mean?" She asked.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? You're a hot girl, he kidnapped you, and we're in the middle of nowhere. What would we do?"

Tifa pondered for a moment and her eyes suddenly went wide, her heart freezing. The horrible realization made her skin crawl as the two men ogled her perversely.

**The Police Station**

Cloud and Cid had just arrived at the police station. They left the car, entered the station and saw the old lady from "Dan's Place" whom they shoved out of their way when they left.

"And then another man came out and knocked me down…again!" The old woman said to officer at the front desk.

"And, what did these two men look like?" The officer asked.

Before the old woman asked, Cloud and Cid pushed her out of the way once more as they approached the front desk.

"We have a crime to report!" Cloud said to the officer.

Dumbstruck, the cop stared at the two men and spoke.

"Ok…what happened?" The cop asked.

"Our friend, Tifa Lockheart was abducted when we were at "Dan's Place" on Redfield avenue," Cloud explained. "The guys name was Lance, he's a lifeguard…well a former lifeguard until we heard he got fired and began working at the restaurant."

"Wait…Lance Rogan?" The cop asked.

"Yes…how did you guess that?" Cid asked, surprised.

"That guy has been causing trouble for months," The cop said. "We've been trying to keep him under wraps but he never stays in one place. The slippery bastard probably has your friend at some random hideout."

Cloud and Cid looked at each other hopelessly.

"Well…what should we do?" Cloud asked desperately.

The cop threw up his hands.

"Well we can send out a patrol car around Lances last known whereabouts but I can't promise you anything," The cop said with a sympathetic sigh.

Behind Cloud and Cid, the front door to the station opened. Gary from "Dan's Place" stepped inside.

"No, but I can promise you something," Gary said as he approached the desk.

Cloud and Cid suddenly felt relief. They looked at Gary.

"Really? Tell us! What is it you can promise?" Cid asked.

"That your friend is in danger," Gary said.

Cloud and Cid frowned.

"And…what about where we can find Lance?" Cloud asked awkwardly.

Gary scratched his chin, trying to remember something. Then he snapped his finger.

"I got it," Gary said cheerfully. "I remember last week, Lance was driving from a beach party. I saw a girl in the back seat of his car. I knew something was up so I followed him to an old warehouse not far from here. I caught a glimpse of him inside with the girl…on a mattress…..against her will."

Cloud and Cids mouths hung open, the cop looked concerned yet unsurprised. Clouds face then turned from shock to anger.

"No…I'm not gonna let that macho monkey rape her!" Cloud shouted. "Gary, where is this warehouse?"

"It's down this road. Go three blocks down and make a right. You can't miss it."

Cloud and Cid immediately left the police station, got into their car and drove off.

Gary then looked at the officer sitting at the desk.

"Aren't you going to help them?" Gary asked.

The officer shrugged.

"I would…but then who would answer the phones," The officer replied.

One of the phones rang. The officer answered it.

"Honolulu Police Department…oh hi honey, how are you," The officer said. His wife was apparently on the other line.

Gary rolled his eyes.

**The Warehouse**

Tifa could only pray that Cloud would find her and save her. She couldn't even think of the two potential rapists…violating her.

"All right, I go first because I found her," Lance said.

"No way! I go first, you went first last time," Tony replied angrily.

Lance sighed, apparently it wasn't the first time they had argued about the same topic.

"Fine," Lance said. "Rock-paper-scissors. Best three out of five wins."

"Fine," Tony agreed.

The two men started playing rock-paper-scissors while Tifa could only watch.

**The Main Road**

Sephiroth had just finished eating at a local restaurant when he saw Cloud and Cid driving down the street. He could see their faces well enough through the windshield.

"Hey guys," Sephiroth called.

Cid saw Sephiroth and stopped the car.

"What are you two doing out so late?" Sephiroth asked.

Cloud and Cid looked at each other and nodded.

"Sephiroth, this is gonna sound very awkward so I'm just gonna let it out: Tifa and I were at the diner and some guy abducted her and took her to a warehouse right down the street from here. I don't want to say what he's planning to do with her…but I'm pretty sure you can guess…right?" Cloud explained.

Sephiroth was dumbstruck.

"Ooookay," Sephiroth said slowly. "Should I come with you guys or should I call the police?"

"We already went to the police but we decided to handle it ourselves," Cid said.

"Really? What are you a vigilante or something?" Sephiroth asked.

"Just get in the damn car!" Cloud shouted.

Sephiroth shrugged and got into the car. The three men drove off and in no time they reached the warehouse. They exited the car. Cid opened the trunk and grabbed his spear. The trio carefully approached the door to the warehouse.

"On three, we'll barge in," Cloud whispered.

Cid and Sephiroth nodded.

"One…two…THREE!"

The trio rammed through the door, stepped inside the warehouse…and saw that it was empty. There was a long pause.

"Um…where are they?" Sephiroth said.

Cid and Cloud looked around.

"I think we've got the wrong warehouse," Cid said.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. It's probably not the one with voices coming from it," Sephiroth said sarcastically.

The trio moved on to the next warehouse and approached the door.

Sephiroth peered into the window.

"What do you see, Sephiroth?" Cloud asked.

"Well Tifas tied to a chair. Theres a couple of really ugly men…playing rock-paper-scissors…..that's weird," Sephiroth said.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get in there and kick some rapist thug ass!" Cid said.

Inside the warehouse, Lance and Tony had just finished playing rock-paper-scissors.

"Ha! I won," Lance said triumphantly. "That means I go first!"

Tony pouted angrily.

"Don't be a sore loser, Tony," Lance said. "You'll get her…when I'm done with her."

Lance took a step towards Tifa, who had broken into a cold sweat. Lance reached for Tifa but before he could touch her, he heard the warehouse doors swing open. He gasped and saw Cloud, Cid and Sephiroth enter the warehouse.

"Get away from her you bastard!" Cloud yelled.

"What…how the hell did you find me?!" Lance shouted.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried with relief.

Cloud approached Lance.

"It seems your co-worker Gary knew about your little hideout," Cloud said.

"That son of a bitch," Lance growled.

Tony was puzzled.

"Lance…who the hell are these guys?"

"Nobody! Just a bunch of candy asses about to get their asses whupped on!" Lance yelled.

Lance charged towards Cloud, his feet shook the ground slightly. Cloud was fast however, he jumped to the side and Lances fist barreled through the space Cloud had just occupied. Before Lance could turn around, Cloud swung his foot around and struck Lance hard in the back, knocking him to his knees.

"Come on, Cloud!" Tifa cheered. "Kick his ass!"

While Cloud was busy with Lance, Cid took the time to untie Tifa from her chair while Sephiroth confronted Tony.

"You don't look so tough," Tony cackled as he drew a knife with an 8 inch blade from his belt.

Sephiroth smiled and revealed his sword, a katana with a 3 foot blade hidden beneath his trench coat. His other sword, the Masamune was too large for him to bring so he had to deal with a smaller weapon.

"Mines bigger," Sephiroth said with a smile as he drew his sword.

Tony was dumbstruck, his knife suddenly seeming feeble and pathetic but he still didn't give up. He swung his knife at Sephiroth, who blocked it quickly. They engaged in a blade to blade fight. Meanwhile, Cid had just freed Tifa from her chair.

"Thank you, Cid," Tifa said gratefully. "I'll help Cloud, you help Sephiroth."

Cid nodded and approached Tony, who was still fighting with Sephiroth.

"Stay out of the way, Cid," Sephiroth said. "I can handle myself."

Cloud was on Lances back, his arm wrapped around his neck and his other arm striking him in the head.

"Get off me! Stop…your choking me!" Lance groaned.

Tifa casually walked up to Lance and kicked him hard in the groin. Lance shrieked once in a high pitched voice, staggered once and fell to the ground. Cloud got up and dusted himself off.

"Thanks Tifa," Cloud said.

Tifa hugged Cloud.

"No, thank you, Cloud," Tifa said with a smile.

Just then, Tony caught Sephiroth off guard. With a quick swipe with his knife, he cut a small strand of hair from Sephiroths head. Cid, Cloud and Tifa gasped, the room went silent. Sephiroth suddenly froze and saw the strand of hair float to the floor. His eyes then trailed to Tonys snickering face.

"Oh hell…now you've done it," Cid said slowly.

Sephiroths eyes were fixed in an enraged stare, his fists clenched with fury. He threw away his sword.

"You…are…..dead," Sephiroth said in a low yet threatening tone. "You can abduct my friend, you can try to rape her, you can even engage us in mortal combat…but when you mess with my hair…that just goes TOOOOO far!!"

Tony burst out with laughter, pointing amusingly at Sephiroth.

"Ha! What a joke!" Tony shouted. "What are you gonna do, call me bad names?"

Sephiroth had enough. In the blink of an eye, he lunged at Tony, knocking him to the ground. Before Tony could even shield himself, Sephiroth began to punch him rapidly in the face, kicking him in the stomach, smashing his head against the ground.

"OW! STOP! GET HIM OFF ME! GET HIM OFF MEEEEE!!" Tony screamed in pain.

Cloud and Cid had to pry Sephiroth off of Tony, whose nose and mouth were leaking blood, his face bruised badly.

"That's what you get for fucking with my hair!" Sephiroth shouted.

**Sometime later**

The police had arrived at the scene only a few minutes after the two thugs were subdued. Lance and Tony were taken away in police cruisers.

"Thanks for helping us catch these two perps," One of the officers said gratefully. "They won't be harassing young woman anymore."

"Thank god for that," Tifa said.

"Come on, let's go home," Sephiroth said. "My favorite show starts in 10 minutes."

**The Hotel**

Vincent and Yuffie were still watching TV when Cloud, Cid, Tifa and Sephiroth returned.

"You guys have been out for a while," Yuffie said. "What happened?"

"Um…maybe it's best we don't discuss it," Cid said.

Cid went to his bedroom. Sephiroth sat in his armchair. Cloud was about to go to his room but Tifa gently grabbed his arm.

"Cloud, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tifa asked.

"Sure," Cloud said.

Cloud and Tifa went upstairs to her room. Yuffie looked at Vincent and smiled playfully. Vincent sighed heavily.

"We'll see Yuffie," Vincent said. "The bet is still on."

Upstairs in Tifas room, Cloud was curious when she locked the door.

"What is it, Tifa?" Cloud asked.

Tifa turned to Cloud and smiled warmly, her face full of gratitude.

"It was very brave for you to come and save me, Cloud," Tifa said gently as she walked towards Cloud.

"Awww it was nothing," Cloud said. "You would have done the same for me."

Tifa stopped close to Cloud. Her face only inches from his.

"You know, Cloud," Tifa said softly. "For so long…I wanted to tell you how I feel about you."

Cloud edged his face closer to Tifas.

"So have I, Tifa," Cloud replied.

Their lips met. With a kiss, Cloud and Tifa finally expressed their true feelings. Tifa stopped kissing Cloud for a moment, and took his hand. They walked towards Tifas bed. Tifa lay down as Cloud unbuttoned his shirt. Tifa began to remove her dress.

Downstairs, Sephiroth's favorite soap opera, "One Life to Live" had started. Sephiroth gazed at the TV while Yuffie and Vincent listened closely to ceiling above them where Tifas bedroom was.

"Sephiroth, turn that down for a second," Yuffie said.

Sephiroth sighed and put the TV on mute.

Vincent and Yuffie heard a creak from upstairs. And another, and another. Then they heard Tifas voice, pleasured and slightly strained.

"_Oh…Cloud…yes…yes!"_

Yuffie smiled and looked at Vincent, who looked right back at her. Yuffie held out her palm. Vincent growled, reached into his pocket and pulled out a 20 bill.

"You got lucky, ninja girl," Vincent said.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Hotel- Dawn of the 6****th**** day**

Cloud woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. It was 9:30 AM. He switched the alarm off and looked at Tifa who lay beside him, still sleeping peacefully.

Cloud smiled and pulled out a notepad and pencil from under his bed. He checked off the label "Confess your love to Tifa and get it on".

"Another goal in my life fulfilled," Cloud said.

Cloud heard Tifa yawn as she sat up.

"Morning handsome," she said with a warm smile.

Cloud turned his head and smiled back as he got dressed. Tifa got dressed as well.

"Last night was the best night of my life," Cloud admitted.

"Ditto," Tifa said giggling.

The two of them walked downstairs together. They heard laughing in the living room. They found Cid and Sephiroth watching the news, both of them laughing.

"What's so funny?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth pointed at the TV. Cloud saw the faces of Lance and Tony as they were taken into custody by the police. Both of them had looks of defeat and humiliation on their faces.

"That's it. Now lock those two scumbags up and throw away the key," Cid said.

"Serves them right too," Tifa added.

Barret, Aeris, Vincent, Caitsith and Yuffie entered the living room.

"What are you guys laughing about?" Vincent asked.

"Nothing important," Sephiroth said, instantly changing the channel.

Vincent cocked his brow.

"Anybody want breakfast?" Aeris asked, changing the subject.

Everyone raised their hands.

"Then let's go," Aeris said as she walked into the kitchen. Everyone followed.

"Whose turn is it to cook this morning?" Barret asked as he sat down.

Everyone pointed to Yuffie.

"What?!" Yuffie cried in a bewildered tone. "I don't know how to cook!"

"First time for everything Yuff," Cid snickered as he lit a cigarette.

"Don't worry Yuffie I'll help you out," Tifa said.

As Tifa and Yuffie cooked, the phone rang. Aeris answered it.

"Hello?" Aeris said into the phone.

"_Lemme speak to Blondie,"_ Raptor said on the other line.

"Oh…it's you," Aeris said dully. "Cid it's for you," she added as she handed the phone to Cid.

Cid took the phone, already half-expecting it to be Raptor.

"If this is Maurice Raptor, I'm hanging up," Cid said.

"_Listen Blondie, I…"_ Before Raptor could finish Cid hung up.

The phone rang again a few moments later. Cid angrily answered it.

"What do you want you son of a bitch?!" Cid yelled into the phone.

"_What did you call me?!"_ The caller said…it wasn't Raptor, it was a woman.

Cid's eyes opened wide.

"What the…mom?!" Cid said, dumbstruck.

"_How dare you speak to your mother that way?!"_ Mrs. Highwind said angrily.

"M-mom I-I'm sorry," Cid said nervously. "I thought you were someone else."

"_Well you shouldn't answer the phone like that anyway, young man,"_

The others snickered at Cid, apparently hearing his conversation. Cid gave them an angry look.

"Mom, I'm 32 years old. I'm not a young man anymore," Cid said with a sigh.

"_Well, anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm a little ashamed at you for destroying the USS Arizona memorial."_

"Uuuuuuhhhhhh-ooooohhhh," Yuffie said amusingly.

Cid glared angrily at Yuffie.

"Mom, that was just an accident all right. Listen, I'm entering a flying competition to get the money to pay for the damages all right, so don't worry," Cid explained.

"_All right, just be careful Cid, and try to quit the smoking, you know it's bad for you."_

"Yes mom," Cid sighed. "I've gotta go now, I love you."

"_Goodbye sweetie, say hello to the others for me,"_

"I will mom, goodbye," Cid replied as he hung up, though he expected Raptor to call back soon.

"Awwweeee," Yuffie said, clamping her hands together teasingly.

"Shut your face, ninja girl," Cid snarled as he sat down. "Your relationship with your old man isn't very solid you know."

Yuffie was quickly annoyed by this. "You leave my father out of this," She said as she finished preparing breakfast.

A few moments after everyone had started eating, the phone rang again. Cid answered it, knowing it was going to be Raptor.

"Hello?"

"_Don't you ever hang up on me like that again or I'll sling your sorry ass!"_ Raptor said angrily.

"What the hell do you want this early in the morning?" Cid asked.

"_I just wanted to remind you that the competition is tomorrow so you'd better be ready, blondie,"_ Raptor said. _"You know, it's not too late. You can still back out and find another way to pay for the memorial."_

"Are you crazy?" Cid said. "I had to pull a lot of strings to get admitted into the competition. There's no way I'm backing out at this point."

"_Why don't you come down to my office and we can discuss this," _Raptor said_._

Raptor hung up. Cid put the phone down and sighed.

**Ford Island airfield**

Raptor smirked as he put the phone down.

"I did warn you blondie, but you had to be the tough guy," Raptor said, apparently scheming something.

**The Hotel**

"So he told you to drop out of the competition? What an ass," Aeris said as she drank her coffee.

"Yeah but he doesn't intimidate me," Cid said as he lit another cigarette.

"How do you know this Raptor guy anyway?" Yuffie asked.

"It's a long story," Cid replied.

Everyone finished eating. Cid stood up.

"Well, time for my morning practice at the airfield. I just hope Raptor won't be there to bust my balls again," Cid said. "Coming Aeris?"

Aeris nodded and followed Cid out of the kitchen.

"So we have only 2 more days of vacation left, how are we going to spend it?" Yuffie asked.

"She's right, we should do something special," Barret said. "Let's throw another Luau."

"Not a very good idea," Tifa said.

"And why is that? The first one went well," Barret said.

"No it didn't. First of all, you got so drunk I had to drag you upstairs to your bed," Sephiroth said.

"Don't forget Tifa and Yuffies little catfight," Cloud added.

"And I fell into the pool and got deactivated for 2 days," Caitsith added.

"And you nearly destroyed my hair," Sephiroth finished.

Barret didn't say anything. He was convinced.

"Well we should still do something special. Either today or tomorrow," Cloud said.

"The flying competition is tomorrow and we're all gonna be there to cheer for Cid so, we'd better do something today," Tifa said.

The kitchen went silent for a moment as everyone tried to think of something.

"How about a movie?" Tifa suggested. "Let's all go see a movie together."

Everyone nodded, accepting the idea.

"That seems a little mediocre if you ask me," Yuffie said unimpressed.

"Oh, well then I guess we'll just spend today doing nothing," Tifa said smarmily.

Yuffie paused for a moment and sighed.

"Fine," Yuffie said, "We'll see a movie."

**Ford Island Airfield**

"Hey, boss," One of Raptors men said. "That blonde guy is back."

Raptor stepped out of his small office hut and spotted Cid and Aeris climbing out of the jet they had flown to the airfield.

"Ah, let him practice," Raptor said calmly. "It won't do him any good against my skills tomorrow."

Cid figured he'd have a word with Raptor before he began to practice.

"Stay with the plane, Aeris, I'll be right back," Cid said as he walked towards Raptors office.

"Ok, just be careful near that guy," Aeris said.

Cid entered Raptors office and found him sitting in his chair, smoking a cigar.

"Oh, blondie," Raptor said with a smirk. "Good to see you again."

Cid glared at the smiling Raptor, already annoyed.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that. My name is Cid."

"Oh well excuse me, blondie!" Raptor said. "Take a seat."

Cid sighed and pulled up a chair in front of Raptors desk and sat down.

Raptor put out his cigar and reached into his desk drawer. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. He placed them on his desk, facing Cid.

"Whats that?" Cid asked.

"The forfeit papers," Raptor said. "So, are you going to sign it or did you just come here to piss me off?"

Cid rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I already told you, I'm not dropping out," Cid replied.

Raptor narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"Well that's a shame, because you have no idea what your gonna be up against tomorrow," Raptor said, trying to intimidate Cid to no avail. "But you can avoid the shame and humiliation of losing. All you have to do is sign the paper."

Raptor pushed the paper towards Cid.

"Yeah, right," Cid scoffed. "I bested your stupid hoop stunt the other night without a problem. This competition should be a breeze for someone like me."

Raptor sighed and put the paper away. He looked at Cid through narrow eyes.

"Fine," Raptor said shrugging. "Have it your way, blondie. But like I said, you don't know what you're up against."

"We'll see about that, Maurice," Cid said as he stood up and began to walk towards the door.

"I warned you blondie," Raptor said, raising his voice.

Cid looked back at Raptor and smiled.

"By the way, Maurice, your fly is open," Cid said as he walked out the door.

"What?" Raptor said as he looked down. "Oh shit…" he muttered as he zippered his pants.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ford Island Airfield- The 6****th**** day**

Cid had been practicing at the airfield for about an hour while Aeris patiently waited. She was quite impressed by his flying skills, from loop de loops to barrel rolls.

"He's getting better," Aeris said to herself. "He's sure to win the competition tomorrow."

Little did Aeris know was that Raptor was also watching Cid via security camera. He sat in his chair, smoking a cigar as he kept his eye on the monitor next to his desk in his office.

"I'll admit, you've got some skills Blondie," Raptor said with a smug smile. "But that won't save you from the little surprise I've got in store for you tomorrow."

Raptor put out his cigar.

"Dickie!" Raptor called out.

"Yes uncle Maurice?" Dickie said, suddenly appearing behind his uncle unexpectedly.

Raptor nearly jumped out of his chair in surprise.

"Don't do that! You wanna give me a heart attack?!" Raptor shouted.

"Sorry uncle…" Dickie began but Raptor interrupted.

"Don't say sorry, just shut up and listen," Raptor said his annoyed scowl turning into a scheming grin. "I want you to do me a little favor…and in the process help me deal with Blondie."

"Who?" Dickie asked.

Raptor rolled his eyes at his nephew's forgetfulness and slight stupidity.

"The guy who beat my hoop stunt," Raptor said.

"Oh yeah, that guy," Dickie said, catching on. "I like that guy. He's cool."

Raptor stared at Dickie for a moment, even more annoyed but he shook it off.

"Yeah…him," Raptor muttered. "Now listen, when he's done practicing, I want you to…" Raptor cleared his throat, "Modify his plan a little bit."

By modify, of course Raptor meant sabotage but Dickie was too stupid to know what his uncle really meant to do.

**Honolulu Multiplex ****Theatre**

After a half-hour of debate, the group had decided to see separate movies. Sephiroth, Tifa, Cloud and Vincent were seeing "Transformers: Rise of the Fallen" and Yuffie, Red XII and Barret were seeing "Day One". In the main lobby, the group bought their popcorn and sodas and went to the lobbies.

The "Transformers" theater was fairly full and full of many fans. Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth took to their seats.

"I heard some bad things about this movie," Tifa said as she sat down next to Cloud. "Reviews said it wasn't as good as the first movie."

"Everybody's a critic, Tifa," Cloud replied.

"Shhh, it's starting," Sephiroth said.

Just as the prologue began, Vincent's cell phone rang. He looked at the display screen and noticed Yuffie was calling him. Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth stared at Vincent, who stared right back and shrugged.

"_Why the hell is she calling me now?" _Vincent thought, rolling his eyes. _"And doesn't she know it's rude to use your cell phone in a movie theater."_

In the other theater, Yuffie was on her cell phone. Barret and Red stared at the young ninja.

"Yuffie, don't use that now," Barret whispered as the movie started.

"Turn that off or they'll throw us out," Red added.

"Hang on! This will only take a second!" Yuffie hissed then said into the phone. "You Vincent can you hear me?"

In the other theater, Vincent reluctantly answered his phone.

"Yuffie, don't call me now," Vincent said angrily.

"Shhhh!" The crowd hissed at Vincent.

"I just wanted to ask why aren't you seeing Day One? Its way better," Yuffie said. "Besides, I saw you reading that bible when we were stuck in the closet. I figured you'd want to at least see a movie with relations to religion"

"Get off the phone!" A man in the crowd shouted at Yuffie, who in return flipped the man off.

"I was only reading that bible to pass the time, now stop talking to me!" Vincent said angrily.

Just then an usher came by and tapped Vincent on the shoulder. Vincent looked at the usher, still on the phone. The usher crossed his arms.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," The usher said.

Vincent sighed and looked at the others. They simply shrugged, not wanting to get involved. Vincent rolled his eyes stood up and left, not particularly interested in the movie anyway. Yuffie on the other hand wasn't treated as well.

"Vincent? Vincent are you there?" Yuffie said into her phone.

Suddenly an usher grabbed Yuffie by the back of her shirt and yanked her out of her seat.

"Come on you rude little brat! Out you go!" The usher said as he dragged Yuffie out of the theater.

"Let go of me you big ape!" Yuffie screamed.

The minute Vincent stepped out of the theater through one door, he saw Yuffie literally get thrown out of the theater through another door to the right. Vincent couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on! I was gonna be off the phone in a minute! Let me back in!" Yuffie said as she slammed her fists on the closed back door that the usher had just closed behind her.

Vincent approached Yuffie and crossed his arms. Yuffie looked at Vincent and smiled nervously, throwing her hands up innocently.

"Nice one, ninja girl," Vincent said, shaking her head. "Way to ruin my day, and yours as well."

Yuffie cross her arms, mocking Vincent.

"All right Mr. Sour puss. What do you wanna do until the others leave the theater?" Yuffie asked, imitating Vincent.

Vincent leered at Yuffie, very annoyed and within an inch of giving her a smack upside the head but decided not to for the sake of avoiding another pointless argument she wouldn't learn a thing from.

"Why don't we rent a movie from that store over there across the street, go back to the hotel and watch it?" Vincent said, it was the best idea he could think of.

Yuffie suddenly looked at Vincent in a disgusted way.

"No way! You perverted bastard!" Yuffie cried.

Vincent cocked his brow and looked across the street and saw a porno store. He smacked his forehead and looked back at Yuffie, even more annoyed.

"No you idiot! The other store!" Vincent shouted.

Yuffie looked to the left of the porno store and saw a Blockbuster Video. She looked back at Vincent and looked sorry but he just shook his head and began to walk towards the store with Yuffie following.

"Wait Vince," Yuffie said, trying to apologize. "I didn't mean what I said. How was I supposed to know?"

**The Movie Theater**

The Transformers movie was about halfway over when Sephiroth left to go to the bathroom to make sure his hair wasn't drying out to much. Cloud and Tifa were alone in the theater. Cloud seemed a bit displeased with the movie.

"It looks like you were right, Tifa," Cloud said softly. "This movie isn't as good as the previous one."

"I told you," Tifa replied, smirking slightly. "Still, I guess it's worth seeing anyway."

Cloud reached for the popcorn, so did Tifa, and their hands met. The two looked at each other, smiled and simply left their hands where they were.

Meanwhile, Sephiroth was combing his hair in the restroom mirror.

"Oh yeah, I am one good looking son of a bitch," Sephiroth said, admiring his appearence.

A man who had just stepped out of one of the bathroom stalls recognized Sephiroth and gasped. Sephiroth turned and looked at the man.

"Hey, your that guy who beat up those two criminals last night, aren't you?" The man said.

"Yep, that was me. Did it all by myself too," Sephiroth said, unable to resist stretching the truth and earning extra praise.

**The Hotel  
**Vincent and Yuffie had rented out the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring from Blockbuster and were watching it on the television set with Caitsith.

"I saw this movie before," Vincent mentioned as the prologue played. "I still can't believe they left out Tom Bombadil."

"That's how movies are when they are based off of books, Vince," Yuffie said. "The longer they are, the more stuff they leave out. Same thing happened with the Harry Potter movies."

"I don't know about you guys," Caitsith said. "But as long as the movie is good and full of action, I really don't give a damn whats left out from the books."

**The Airfield**

Finished just about every stunt he could think of, Cid landed his plane and approached Aeris who handed him a towel to wipe the sweat from his face and a water bottle.

"You did great, Cid," Aeris said. "You're gonna win the competition for sure."

Cid took a drink from his water bottle, looked at Aeris and smiled.

"Thanks Aeris," Cid said. "I appreciate all the help you've given me."

"Let's get back to the hotel, my show starts in 20 minutes," Aeris said.

Cid nodded and the couple walked back to Cids car and drove off.

However, they both failed to see Dickie sneak up to Cid's plane before the airfield crew could bring it back to the hanger. He held a tool box in his hand, which he placed on the ground and opened the maintenance hatch below the cockpit. Dickie sighed deeply and opened the hatch. He reached for the tool box, opened it. Inside there was a small, remote control explosive.

"I'm sorry…..Mr. Blondie…or whatever your real name is," Dickie said regretfully.

**Authors Note-** Anyone who enjoyed the "Transformers: Rise of the Fallen" I apologize. Another note, it IS true that whenever a movie based on a book is created, they always alter it and leave a lot of the best stuff out. If my book (which I've been working on for a few years) is published some day and turned into a movie, I just hope they don't leave out a bunch of the good stuff I spent a lot of hard work on.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer-** Once more, this story was not meant for profit and created with no intention of copyright infringement. Final Fantasy VII is the rightful property of Square Enix.

**The Hotel- The 7****th**** (And Final day)**

Cid was getting into his best piloting outfit upstairs in his room for the competition while everyone waited for him downstairs.

"Come on, Cid!" Aeris called up the stairs. "We're going to be late."

"I'll be right down!" Cid called back.

A few minutes later, Cid came down the stairs in his favorite jacket, scarf and boots, a cigarette in his mouth.

"I'm ready to fly and kick Raptors ass," Cid said proudly.

"That's the spirit," Barret said. "Now let's go before we miss the opening."

The group split into separate cars. Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth and Barret took one car. Cid, Aeris and Caitsith took another and in the last car were Vincent, Yuffie and Red XIII.

"So Cid," Aeris said as Vincent drove on. "You're confident you're going to win, right?"

"Oh hell yeah," Cid said. "And after I win, I'm gonna use the prize money to build a huge airship to replace the Shera."

"Um Cid…don't you need the money to repair the USS Arizona memorial by tomorrow?" Caitsith asked.

Cid frowned and sighed. "Yeah…" He answered. "But at least I'll build up a reputation here."

After a 20 minute drive, the party arrived at the airfield, got out of their cars and walked to the main airstrip where everything was set up.

In Vincents car, Yuffie had already started chattering.

"What if Cid loses?" Yuffie asked Vincent. "What if he loses and we can't pay the fine. We'll all end up in prison."

"Actually, only you, Cid and Aeris will be thrown into prison since the three of you were at the scene of the crime," Vincent explained.

Yuffie looked even more nervous, her claustrophobia kicked in as she anticipated the small, confined jail cell.

"Well.....at least Aeris and I wouldn't have to worry about dropping the soap as much as Cid," Yuffie said insensitively.

"Just shut up and let me drive, Yuffie!" Vincent said angrily.

The airfield had thousands of onlookers watching from seats placed around the airfield. About ten pilots had assembled their planes, lined neatly along the main airstrip. At the front Raptor and Dickie were making some last minute mechanical check on their jet.

"All right Dickie, I think we're ready," Raptor said and noticed Cid approaching. "Oh well look who's here."

Cid scowled at Raptor as he walked up to him.

"Good to see you, Maurice," Cid said sarcastically. "May the best man win."

Raptor smiled at Cid.

"The best man is me Blondie," Raptor said. "But don't worry, I'm sure you'll have…a blast in the competition anyway."

Cid cocked his brow.

"Why did you pause like that…before you said a blast?" Cid asked, suddenly suspicious.

"What do you care Blondie?" Raptor said quickly. "You're gonna lose anyway."

Cid sighed and shook his head and Aeris separated from the group. The rest of the party joined the audience. Cid and Aeris approached their jet positioned at the far end of the line of planes positioned on the runway. Cid climbed into the jet, just as the other pilots did.

"Good luck, Cid," Aeris said with a smile.

From inside the cockpit, Cid gave Aeris a thumbs up as he put his flight helmet and gloves on. A man, apparently the announcer, approached a podium and spoke into a microphone.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the 20th annual Pearl Harbor air competition. This year, once again we have 5 year champion Captain Maurice Raptor."

The crowd cheered loudly.

"And a newcomer, Cid Highwind," The announcer continued.

The crowd cheered again.

"…who is only in this competition because he needs the winning money to repair the USS Arizona memorial…which he accidentally destroyed," The announcer finished awkwardly.

The crowd suddenly became silent and so did the party. A chorus of boos erupted from the crowd, who threw food and drinks and a brick with a note saying "You suck!" on it. Aeris could see Cid looked ashamed inside the jets cockpit. The man behind the podium cleared his throat.

"In this year's competition we have, as usual, ten grueling stunts, all placed around Pearl Harbor. Each of you must complete each stunt and land on the runway. The first one to land will win $40 million. Second will win $15 and third will win $5 million. Each stunt will be addressed to you via your radios so keep your ears open. Gentlemen, start your engines and best of luck to all of you," The announcer finished.

The pilots started their planes and drove into position in front of ten separate runways for each one. Cid suddenly felt nervous but knew it would hinder him so he kept his heart calm. Raptor was as cocky and calm as usual. The other pilots were either confident or nervous.

The

"Good luck, Cid!" Aeris called as she joined the rest of the party within the audience.

The announcer pulled out a starter gun.

"On your mark! Get set! GO!!!!" The announcer said and the gun went off.

The jets roared, dashed down the runway and glided into the sky. Cid got a good head start, already coming into 3rd place before the first stunt.

"For the first stunt, we will have a barrel roll," The announcer said.

"Ha! That'll be easy!" Cid said.

All of the pilots performed a successful barrel roll, especially Cid and Raptor.

"Well done pilots! Well done!" The announcer said. "Our second stunt will be a loop de loop!"

Once again, the pilots performed well but Cid and Raptor performed the best.

At that moment, Tifa, Cloud and Yuffie each held up a poster. Each poster had a letter on it. Tifas poster had the letter "C". Clouds poster had the letter "I" and Yuffies was also the letter "I".

"Cii?" Tifa said, reading the word the posters spelt. "I told you Yuffie, you were supposed to be the letter E."

"Sorry…" Yuffie said.

Stunt after stunt followed: Barrel rolls, flying through hoops, flying upside down, etc. Cid and Raptor both performed the stunts with relative ease, being by far the two most talented pilots in the competition. About an hour after the gun went off, the final stunt was approaching. Raptor was still in first place but Cid was gaining on him fast.

"Here we are folks! The final stunt!" The announcer said. "The last and hardest stunt will be a loop de loop through each hoop lining the runway. Who will it be? The 5 year veteran or the newcomer?"

Cid became nervous when he heard the announcer's words but he still kept his spirits up. He sped up a bit until he was right alongside Raptor, who was still all too confident. Raptor switched on the headset built into his flight helmet.

"Dickie, set off the bomb and bring this son of a bitch down," Raptor said.

"Okay uncle Maurice," Dickie said.

Down below, within the crowd, Dickie took a small detonator out of his pocket. Raptor had told Dickie to plant the bomb and set it off to make it look like an accident. Raptor even said he didn't care if Cid lived or died, all he said was "anything it takes to win". Dickie didn't like the idea but he knew his uncle wouldn't listen to him.

Dickie breathed deeply, closed his eyes…..and pushed the button.

There was a loud explosion, followed by a big unison of gasps from the crowd…..as, not Cids, but Raptors starboard engine suddenly exploded and burst into flame. The shockwave of the explosion nearly sent Cid out of control but he managed to veer away from Raptors aircraft to avoid being taken down.

"What the hell?!?" Raptor cried as his plane began to spin wildly out of control.

"I'm sorry Uncle Maurice…..but I like Mr. Highwind more than you," Dickie said softly.

Cid was dumbstruck when he saw Raptors plane spin out of control. Luckily, Raptor managed to eject himself from the cockpit. His plane crashed to the ground and exploded in a ball of fire. Raptors seat flew into the air and the parachutes sprung out. As he descended to the ground, Raptor cursed Cid and Dickie all the way down.

"I didn't see that coming…" Cid said. "Oh well."

With all of his skill and concentration, Cid successfully performed a loop de loop through every hoop set across the airfield. The crowd went nuts, cheering and screaming wildly for Cid as he landed his plane and stepped out, waving to everyone. The crowd, impressed by Cids flying skills forgave him and instead of food, threw roses and a brick, which Cid caught, that had a note saying "You rock!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," The announcer said. "This year's winner is Cid Highwind! Let's give it up for him!"

"All right, Cid!" Aeris cried happily as she ran to Cid and hugged him, ever so proud of his victory.

The rest of the party gathered around Cid.

"Awesome job, Cid!" Cloud said.

"You did it, Cid!" Tifa added.

"Now we don't have to worry about that fine or getting thrown into jail either!" Yuffie said, almost ruining the moment but the others ignored her.

Raptors seat landed on the ground. The instant he saw the crowd gather around his landed plane, he tore off his flight helmet and smashed in on the ground.

"No! No! Nooooo!" Raptor screamed, stamping his feet furiously on the ground.

The announcer pushed his way through the crowd and approached Cid with a pleased smile on his face.

"Mr. Highwind, for your outstanding performance here today, I hereby present you with first prize, $40 million! Congratulations son!"

Cid smiled and shook the announcers hand as reporters gathered around them and took pictures.

**The Hotel- Later that day**

Cid smiled as he read the newspaper headline that read. "USS Arizona memorial destroyer wins first place at competition."

"I knew you could do it, Cid," Aeris said as she sat next to him. "I'm so proud of you."

Cid looked at Aeris and smiled warmly.

"We all knew you could do it," Tifa added.

"I didn't," Yuffie said.

Everyone stared at Yuffie, very much annoyed.

"I just…thought something would have gone wrong, that's all," Yuffie reasoned.

Everyone ignored the young ninja.

"Well now that you've payed off that $38 million fine for the memorial damages, what are you going to do with that extra $2 million, Cid?" Vincent asked.

"I'm gonna use it to modify the Shera a little bit," Cid answered. "But that's for when we get home."

Cid and the others immediately went to their rooms, packed their things and checked out of the hotel. After returning their rental cars and a half hour walk to the airport, they boarded their plane and went home…..but not before Yuffie ejected Vincent out of his plane seat again for the anchovy prank.

**The End**

**Authors Note-** This was the 16th and final chapter of the story. After three years (due to laziness and delays), it's over. Sorry guys but hey, I'm not quitting this website anytime soon and judging from the 100+ reviews, I can tell you guys really enjoyed this story. That means I'll be working on other projects so look out for me and you'll be in for more. Seeya!


End file.
